"Ironing??? What does that have to do with that scripture???" When ironing a pair of pants I lay them on the board, lift up the right leg of the pant, and move it out of the way. I iron the inside of the left leg first then pull the right leg back down and iron the outside of it. After that I flip the pants over and do the inside of the right, then the outside of the left... Long story short... The leg I start with is also the leg I end with... "The first shall be last and the last shall be first..."
Scriptures for this week:
Matthew 19:30, "But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." (NIV)
Matthew 20:16, "'So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.'" (NLT) (Read the entire parable vs. 1-16)
Mark 9:35, "Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.'" (NIV)
Mark 10:31, "So Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" (NLT)
Luke 13:22-30, "Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28'There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.'"
We all need to learn to be servants and willing vessels to be used by God for His glory. We also should realize that even though we may not be the greatest preacher the world has ever known, or the most eloquent speaker to bring God's Word to life for others, we are still significant. God still loves us and wants to use us. It may not always be in the most exciting ways (like scrubbing toilets and not getting recognized), but it is still important. "Whoever wants to be a leader needs to be a servant." We need to be willing to help and serve others in all things, and even if we are not recognized by the people around us, God notices!~ S*
This is so cool! God was totally just teaching me that as well :)! In fact, I have a neat story for you. There is a boy by the name of Matthew who is taking a spanish class this year. He's 13 years old and VERY smart, but foreign language is not his strongest subject, in fact he's not very confident in his ability at all. He had a test just a couple of weeks ago and he literally had to use every second allowed to finish the test. He was the last one done! It's kind of an unspoken rule as a kid that you need to try to be the first one done, because that means you are the best. Matthew felt so awful, he really thought he must have done the worst and he had to have failed. Long story short, he got his results back....he finished not only with a 96%, but he finished in FIRST place! He was willing to use every second, and it paid off in the end. He did have to face some ridicule at first, but in the end, nobody was laughing!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! Love it! :)
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