Reverse Values: Servants Shall Be First

Writing an acrostic poem for the word "servant" helps me to see what I think about having a servant's attitude, or heart.  It's a word association about my beliefs.  Try it yourself. You may be surprised by what comes to your mind as you write down phrases for each letter. 

Reverse values. 
Jesus was all about reverse values. He was a king with no storehouses full of possessions. He was a king who walked from town to town. Jesus was a Servant King who washed the feet of his disciples. Foot washing was a job given to slaves or the lowest of servants. Yes, Jesus had no riches or rich trappings. He was the opposite of what everyone thought a king should be. Jesus set the bar at being a servant. Yes, waiting on others is how you become first in the kingdom of heaven. 

Today, I try to be the best servant I can be, one day at a time. 
What does that mean? Before COVID-19, it meant at the store, I smile and look for opportunities to help others. I can carry bags to cars, return carts to the store, or give someone my cart. 

With COVID-19 concerns, I can carry disinfectant wipes and wipe off my cart handle before offering it to someone. I am still going to carry bags. I will just have to sanitize my hands afterward. I'm already doing that anyway.  

If someone stops to talk to me, I patiently listen. Everyone needs to talk.  

At the bank drive-through, I smile at the cashier. Smiles are contagious. No matter where I go, I look for an opportunity to tell others that Jesus loves them. Sometimes it is the smallest of gestures, that means the most to others.  


Matthew 19:29-30
29And every one that has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred times, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Matthew 20: 12,14,16
12Saying, These last have worked but one hour, and you have made them equal to us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
14Take what is yours, and go your way: I wish to give to this last man, the same as to you. 
16So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Matthew 20:26-28
 26But it shall not be so among you: but whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27And whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

John 13:14
14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet.