When we look at the life of Jesus, we see the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in several different stages of life: as a newborn baby, as a young boy and as a man beginning His ministry. Every aspect of His life pointed to the fact that Jesus was here for a purpose. His purpose was to bring salvation to the world. His purpose was to bring about the kingdom, the church. However, many thought His kingdom would be of this earth. They thought of an earthly throne. It is conceivable that many thought of great riches, glory and powerful armies. Yet, that was not the kind of King Jesus was to be. Yes, He was God in the flesh. He had all power at His disposal, but Jesus was to be a different kind of King than the world had ever known. He would not take glory for Himself. Humbly, He submitted to the will of the Father, and humbly, He came to serve.
One of the many great lessons Jesus taught while He was here on the earth was about humble service. On one occasion, while Jesus was delivering that great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke about a few different ways we can humbly serve God. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus first gave a clear warning to not practice righteousness to be seen by men. He then went on to talk about three different topics: charitable deeds, praying and fasting.
In Matthew 6:3, the instruction given regarding charitable deeds was to not let one’s left hand know what the right hand was doing. Instead, we are to do charitable deeds secretly and in a way to glorify God and not ourselves.
Matthew 6:5-7 changed the subject from charity to prayer. In these verses, Jesus clearly taught, that like our deeds, our prayers are not to be prayed to be heard by men. We are not to pray prayers with lofty words so that we sound smarter or more spiritual than our peers. Instead, we are to pray prayers secretly and from the heart—always giving honor to God.
Lastly, we come to the discussion of fasting. In Matthew 6:16, we see that when we are fasting, we should not try to draw attention to ourselves. Like our charity and our prayers, our fasting should be done in secret. God is the one that should be glorified.
Humble service was taught by the very life that Jesus lived. The King of Kings humbled Himself to assume the form of man, fell to His knees to wash His disciples’ feet and went to the cross to die for you and me. Jesus is the Humble Servant, but He is also our Lord and Savior. As we live each day, let us remember the lessons that Christ has taught us. Let us humbly serve in such a way that God will receive the glory.
