Here I Am Lord! Use Me.

Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ (ESV)

If you are like me, you might here the word commandment and think of a physical task placed in front of you. At first read, this is naturally what my mind drifted towards. But I seemed to have forgotten the two most important commandments given in scripture. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Sure without an outward expression of these two commandments they most likely would not prove to be valid in your life. Although I think they start in the heart, this is not a condition you can modify yourself to have. To conform to this kind of love is not possible, it is only possible by a transforming and renewal of the mind. To me knowing that these are the two greatest commandments, these should be of highest priority in all we do. So when we are serving, and have been placed a task in front of us, our primary focus in whatever it might be is to love God and love your neighbor. Now as I mentioned these are conditions that start from within although they are practically applied as well. I am confident enough to say if you focus on living worthy to the call of these two commandments all else you do will fall into place, including having a servants heart. So I ask you this, are you striving and working hard to earn the love for one another and for God, or are you allowing Gods love transform your heart are in turn flow out of you naturally? I know often times I am working for that love, but then I am reminded there is nothing I can do to be righteous before God, our savior has already done that work for us. Now all I can do is surrender my rights to Him. This is the mindset Paul is saying to have in I Corinthians 9:19, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” the he goes on to say, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” And for what do you do this you ask? “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” There you have it. Paul lets us in on his secret, his lets his love for the Lord and the gospel transform his mind into one that selflessly serves every person he comes into contact with. Jew or Gentile, weak or strong, “Here I am Lord! Use me.”

Application:
I to often work for this mindset instead of allowing God to do the work for me. This morning I will yield my rights to the Lord, and focus on fulfilling these two commandments at any opportunity.