Page 67 - Living Light - A Message of Joy!

Sunday February 18 - Called to be servants Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus... Philippians 1:1
It might seem strange to finish by considering Paul’s opening greeting. Paul introduced himself as a ‘servant’; the word in Greek could equally be translated as ‘bondservant’ or ‘slave’. In the first century, bondservants were commonplace; they were the spoils of war, with few rights apart from those their masters granted. Paul saw himself as a bondservant of Christ; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 declares, ‘You are not your own; you were bought at a price.’ Paul recognised that he was a servant before he was an apostle. I thank God that my first calling was to servanthood – finding joy in setting up church, collating the newsletter, putting out the rubbish... To this day, serving remains my high calling.
Jesus exhorts us to be a ‘bowl and towel’ people (John 13:14-17); humble servants willing and ready to say, “Yes, Lord” to the Master’s bidding. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). This servanthood applied equally to both Paul and Timothy. They shared in the high calling of servanthood which underpinned their ministry and became the substance of their unity.
Like me, do you long to hear God’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Note: it is not good and faithful chaplain or editor, but servant! The amazing reward is ‘sharing your master’s happiness’ (Matthew 25:23). How wonderful is that?
Heavenly Father, please ‘take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee; take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.’ Amen.
Monday February 19 - Called to be holy
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi... Philippians 1:1
‘From me to you’ is the nondescript title of the Beatles’ third single. Today’s text, ‘From servants to saints!’ is far more revealing. Paul sees himself as a servant, and the church in Philippi as holy. The rest of the letter is set within these parentheses.
God’s people are not perfect; they are not without sin, but they are sanctified by the precious blood of Jesus. The call of both Old and New Testament writers is to “Be holy, as God is holy” (Leviticus 19:2 and 1 Peter 1:16). Paul starts his first letter to the Corinthian church, ‘to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy’ (1 Corinthians 1:2). He knows the church is in serious error, but he prefaces everything with the truth – we are made holy by being in Christ. Our holiness, our set-apartness, is solely from Jesus. If we have repented and given our lives to Christ we are made righteous with Christ’s righteousness (Romans 3:22).
This liberating truth is fundamental; it’s not only our identity that is rooted in Christ, but also our new nature is to be found in him. This alone makes it possible for us to be holy just as he is holy. Paul, the great ‘apostle of grace’, knew this could not be achieved by human endeavour (Philippians 3:4-9) but simply by receiving it as the gift of God.
Father God, moment by moment may my life bear evidence to your abiding presence in my heart. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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