Therefore... (#27 of 365+)

I shop at an Asian grocery store that is both owned and operated by a sweet elderly Korean couple. The old man always offers to carry something for me and the old woman smiles and gives me
free gum. My head will dip slightly whenever I enter and exit their store. It is an act of respect that I was taught to do when I was very young.

I read somewhere that bowing started as a physical sign of submission because the act would expose a slave’s neck to a swipe of his master’s sword. It isn’t any surprise that this polite gesture had its roots in servitude. Even my childish heart and mind picked up on the subtle undertones. I somehow felt that I was on the losing side of a one-sided deal and my instinct was to rebel. But I have since matured and come around to many (if not all) of my mother’s crazy ways. As a Christian, especially an American Christian because we’re perceived as arrogant and self-righteous, it is very important for me to maintain a polite and respectful exterior. However, God wants me to go much farther and deeper than that. He wants me to go all the way and have a servant’s heart.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:5-9)

If these verses were a simple algebraic equation, it would look like 7 + n = 21. I’d be like the struggling student who tries to solve the unknown variable on the left without looking at the complete equation, and my teacher (Joni) would be patiently reminding me to look at the right side of the “=” for the key. Notice the title of this devotional is “Therefore”. Christ didn’t humble himself because he was a glutton for punishment. There was a purpose to what he endured. Although it was in his nature to submit to God the Father he also knew that being obedient to God and making himself vulnerable to mankind would lead to the ultimate victory over sin and death. As a result of his submission he received the highest reward possible.

I need to look to the right side of the “=”, to the “therefore”, especially when I find it difficult to serve. Since I’m his child I know one day I’m going to receive an inheritance. I’m going to share in the riches of the kingdom. “We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17)

Lord, thank you for providing for my every need - and then some. Help me to draw from eternity to serve someone sacrificially today. Amen.