This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
At some point in our lives we have probably wished for one wish. The “genie in the bottle” of Alladdin fame captures our attention and gets us thinking, “What would I ask for?” Better than Alladdin, James and John, two followers of Jesus, had Jesus in front of them. They make a bold request, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
How would your respond? If you went to your boss and asked him this question…If you went to your parents and asked them this question…If you went to Jesus and asked him this question.
Jesus plays along, but before committing to giving whatever they would ask he asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
This question is telling as Jesus penetrates their heart without them even realizing it. He knew they were coming to him to get something from him.
Can we be the same way? Perhaps we don’t start with the same question as James and John, but get to their conclusion even quicker…I can ask Jesus for whatever I want and I EXPECT him to give it to me. Test this by asking yourself, “How did you react when Jesus DIDN’T do for you what you asked!
We can naturally be pretty self-centered in our lives. Even in our relationship to Jesus, we can often approach that relationship as though Jesus were our “sugar-daddy” who is at our beacon call to give us whatever we ask.
So we have to learn what James and John learned.
They wanted a position of power in Jesus’ kingdom. They wanted to be the right and left hand person. They were even so confident to say they could go through the suffering Jesus would go through.
The other ten? They were indignant at James and John either because they thought, “Who are THEY to ask this?” or I could imagine they may have thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Jesus had 12 hearts he needed to mold away from their selfishness to understand what life in his kingdom was all about. Life in his kingdom was not about being the top person and demanding service from others, but being willing to serve others. Serving others moves our heart from being self-focused to others-focused.
And when God molds our heart to be others-focused through service, we no longer care what’s in it for me.
Apply: What changes in your day if you embark with the spirit of serving others vs. seeing how much others serve you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for confronting my selfish heart and directing it away from sin to serve others. As you have served me, may your love for me motivate and guide my service to others. AMEN.