There are two camps that war within us. The commander of one cries out, “Who will care for me? What will happen to my reputation? Why does no one encourage me?” The Commander of the other triumphs with, “YHWH is King! He is Lord of all. Liberate the captives! Rescue the widows, the orphans, the lame, the blind. Be servant of all.”
There is an epic divide: serve the Savior or serve myself.
The first camp—the commander being the person I look at in the mirror every day—has the work of taking care of self, maintaining reputation, serving others to look good, talking of self (or not talking of self so as to look like a good person, but all the while thinking only about self), and setting up personal thrones and seats of glory. The catch? A miserable, wasted life.
The second camp—the Commander being He who sits on a white horse and whose Name is Faithful and True—has the work of rescuing orphans and redeeming the lost, of breaking bars of iron and setting prisoners free. The catch? Becoming nothing, so He can be all. The Commander Himself goes with His people. Faithful and True emptied Himself, became despised and rejected, washed mud from the feet of traitors, ruined His reputation, spilled His own blood, and furthermore gave all glory He received to His Father. This is the path He calls all those in His service to follow.
There is no grey area.
Either I serve myself and sit on a throne of my own making, or I surrender wholly to King Jesus and bow before the Highly Exalted One who hung on a cross. Jesus is the perfect Rescuer. He came incognito, completely abandoned to His Father, and rescued me from my dungeon. He rescued me not just from sin, but from myself, so that I can throw off the shackles of self and go into the world, rescuing others as He has rescued me. But in order for me to join His army, self must die. Self will twist all my serving for my own credit. Self will convince me I am serving Him, when my heart says, “Where is my place in the kingdom?” Self will betray me.
I want to be willing to serve; I want to be willing to be made like Him; I want to be willing for Him to be all. Every day I need to be rescued from myself. Praise God, He is the Rescuer. This is His work. “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
–Matthew 20:26-28
--1.10.11
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