John Bevere - Honor's Reward, Unlocking the Power of this Forgotten Virtue
- Watch
- Donate
I look at how important the Bible is, and yet it has been used in such destructive ways throughout history. I mean, the Pharisees could quote the first five books of the Bible from memory, and yet they resisted what God was doing. What changes that is a relationship with the Holy Spirit. While we were worshiping, I contemplated what the Apostle Paul said to Timothy: "In the last days, very difficult times are going to come."
As we worshiped, the Holy Spirit said, "Keep going, John," and I realized what came next in that chapter. I didn't put it together until this morning's worship. But listen to what Paul continues to say to this young man, Timothy: "But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught; you know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You've had some amazing teachers in this church. You have been taught the holy scriptures from childhood, and they've given you the wisdom to receive salvation that comes through trusting in Jesus Christ. All scripture is inspired—now listen to this—by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work."
You know, I've written 22 books now in almost 30 years of writing; this year marks 30 years since I began writing. Yet, if you talk to our four sons, they will say that when they get up in the morning, they see Dad's light on in his study, and he's in the scriptures. There is a reason for that, as the writer of Hebrews makes a statement that rivets me: "We must pay very careful attention to the things we've heard lest we drift away." As a young man who used to fish in White Lake, Michigan, I remember times when I was so excited about fishing that I forgot to put down the anchor. I was so focused on fishing that a few minutes later, or thirty minutes later, I would look up and not even recognize where I was, and the reason is I had drifted. Drifting never happens consciously; it occurs unconsciously.
I remember Lisa and I were treated to a place called Londolozi, which is a game reserve in Africa. The pastors who took us there were speaking at conferences. It was an unbelievable place with no fences. We stayed in a villa distanced from the main camp, and I recall the road that led us to our villa at night. When it gets dark over there, it is dark—there are no city lights anywhere. The guide had a flashlight showing Lisa and me the path to our villa for the night, and I remember him saying, "Don't you dare walk out of your place tonight unless you call us." He then told us about a lady who was recently killed, saying, "You are in the jungle, and nighttime is when these creatures come out." He instilled enough fear in us that we stayed in our place all night. Anyway, I will never forget that flashlight being the only light around. I thought to myself that if he turned that flashlight off, we would completely lose our path and have no idea where we were, likely falling into a ditch or something similar.
All that to say, God says, "Thy word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path." Jesus makes the statement to give us daily bread. We do not live off what God said yesterday; we live off what God is saying today. I have shared with our sons and our team members that whenever I get into the Word of God in the mornings, I will never read the Bible without asking the Holy Spirit to open my eyes and teach me. It is crucial to ask Him to teach us because the letter kills; scripture can be used in a way that truly hurts people, but the Spirit gives life.
You know, some publishers came to us wanting to sign a book deal; they were evangelical publishers. I remember sitting down with them at lunch and opening up, sharing from my heart. After I left, they looked at my assistant and said, "He must spend hours and hours studying." They said, "We do an hour and a half after work three times a week, yet look at the word that comes out of him." The next day, my assistant relayed this to me, and I said, "Nah. The difference is I know the teacher." I guess the reason I'm saying this now is that we live in a world that pulls us from every direction. This world not only pulls on us but constantly puts things in our faces.
Back in the 1970s, I think they said we were bombarded with about 350 bits of major information per day from billboards, magazines, and television. Today, it's over 6,000, so we are constantly being bombarded by the world. We must realize that when Paul says, "I will press on to the high call," pressing means what? It doesn't mean just tiptoeing to the high call; it means resisting the resistance. There is an opposition to you moving into the high calling. What is the high calling? Does anyone know? It's to know Him intimately. "That I might know Him and the power of His Resurrection, being made conformable to His death." In order to become like Him, that is the goal of God.
You do realize that the endgame for Christianity is to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. There will be resistance that will try to hinder you from becoming like Him, and that is why I commend you. Here we are on a Saturday morning, yet you are still here. Why? Because you want to hear the Word of God; you want to hear the scriptures taught. This is why Paul says to Timothy in the very next verse, "Preach the word." But he doesn't say it haphazardly; he says, "I charge you in the sight of God and Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead." "Preach the word."
Okay, now what's interesting is that Rick Renner sat down with me one day and really elaborated on this. He said, "John, the word 'charge' in the Greek is only used when elders were appointing an official or a council member to a city—a governmental position. They would call on the Greek gods and say, 'We charge you to do exactly what we're telling you to do, or the Greek gods will judge you.'" Paul uses that word and says, "I charge you in the sight of God and Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead to preach the word." Why does he say that? Because the word spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will bring change.
So we, as the people of God, must develop an appetite for the Word of God. The more time I spend in the Word of God, the hungrier I become for it. If I spend less time in the Word, my hunger wanes; that is diametrically opposed to our physical experience. If I go without eating for three or four days, you all know what happens, right? Your body screams, "I'm hungry!" Your spirit is the complete opposite; the less you feed it, the less it cries out. I have found that it takes discipline to say, "I'm going to stay in the Word." Why? Because I don't want to drift off that path.
If that guy with the flashlight had turned off the light, even though I had walked 300 yards on that path perfectly, once the light goes off, I'm lost. It's very easy to drift off that path, and that is why we must never tire of the discipline of spending time in His Word. We just held a roundtable discussion with my oldest and youngest sons regarding a course called the "I Am Course." Both my sons said they remember when they were in high school, getting up early in the morning to find Dad's light was already on as he read his Bible. I didn't realize it, but that inspired them to where they are now even more disciplined about it than I am, because they saw that while my dad and mom didn't do everything perfectly, one thing we do know is that the Word of God kept them humble enough to say, "I'm sorry," when they made mistakes.
This is what we want to maintain. I have been around the church and have traveled all over the world, so I see things from a bird's eye view. I have seen leaders who remain teachable and humble, and you know what? They continue to grow. But I have also seen church leaders without vision, and their churches do not go anywhere. What I have observed, no matter what we do, whether in the marketplace, healthcare, or education, is that we must stay humble and keep a vision. Spending time with God puts vision inside of you.
Proverbs 20:5 says, "Counsel in the heart of a man is deep waters, but the man or woman of understanding draws it out." Now that's very interesting to me; the person of understanding knows how to draw out the counsel of God, right? What are counselors for? I need help; I need to know what to do. I'm in a situation where I'm really struggling. What do counselors do? They say, "Well, I advise you to do this." Well, do you know there is counsel from the Lord? He is called the Spirit of Counsel. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, the Spirit of Understanding, and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord." These are aspects of the Holy Spirit; He is the Spirit of Counsel.
Do you know how often I've run into situations and said, "God, I need counsel. I need to know what to do right now"? This is why I reference the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "Out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water." What's one of those rivers? Counsel, understanding, wisdom. He spoke of the Spirit that they would receive. Are you following this? He who speaks in an unknown tongue doesn't speak to men; he speaks to God. However, in the spirit, he speaks mysteries. This doesn't mean mysteries like it seems hidden counsel, hidden wisdom, hidden understanding. God does not hide things from people; He hides things for His elect.
He's not hiding things from us; He's hiding things for us. That's why it's the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings—we're kings and priests, the glory of Christians—to search out a matter. So, what if we allow the demands of this life today to keep pulling us? We might not get what we truly need in the areas of life where we're called to succeed. I have found myself so many times in situations where I said, "God, what do I do?" And you know what I do? I begin to pray in the Spirit and then listen.
But listen to me; I view the Holy Spirit as a dentist, and I'm like the assistant. Now let me explain this visual. Do you know that the assistant lays out all the trays before the dentist does a root canal? God forbid any of us gets a root canal. The dentist is going to say, "Give me this, give me that," and he's pointing to all the tools at different times during this procedure. What happens if the assistant doesn't lay out the tools? The dentist has nothing to draw from.
This is why staying in the Word is crucial. We think we will get the benefit from reading the Word right at that moment; that may happen, but I have found often it's two hours later that the Holy Spirit said, "I need this right now." It also keeps the channel open. These disciplines, which we might not think are significant on the hour, are extremely important. They are the foundations.
One of the things I want to address this morning is the different positions or postures we can hold as believers. I have learned that there are three life positions we can take at any time, and we can flow in and out of these depending on the circumstance. But there is one position that is better than all the others. The three positions would be as a servant, a slave, or a hireling.
Let me explain this to you. First, let's discuss the difference between a servant and a slave. A servant gets to; a slave has to. When Jesus said, "If they want you to take their colt one mile, go two," why does he say that? He is trying to keep them from becoming slaves. Let's review this: if a Roman soldier or citizen comes up to me and I'm a Jewish person back in those days, with all my groceries, and that guy says, "I want you to walk my horse one mile," do you know by law I have to do it? I have to put down my groceries, and they're all going to perish. I have to go a mile and then come back for them—that was a raw deal.
Jesus was saying to them, "Why do you want to do this as if you have to do it when you can choose to do it? If you're a servant, you're free; if you're a slave, you're in bondage." You'd be amazed at how many people are in bondage today because they believe they are slaves. They have a slave mentality. A servant does the maximum; a slave does the minimum requirement. The slave is going to walk one mile; the servant is going to walk two.
Now, the hireling—we often make hireling sound bad, but to be honest with you, the definition of a hireling is not necessarily negative. A hireling is simply a person who serves for pay or wages. They are motivated to work because they are being paid for it. Now, that's not evil, but it's not the highest calling, because the hireling will work as long as they are being paid, while the servant will work to get the job done.
If you examine the life posture of Jesus, notice that He says in Mark 10:43–45, "Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and give His life." Jesus made it clear: He came not to be served but to serve.
I find it interesting that the last illustrated sermon Jesus left His disciples was washing their feet. How many of you have ever been in a small group in Christianity where someone pulled out a basin and pitcher, asking everyone to take off their shoes and socks? Let's be honest—did you hate it? Yes, I did. Unfortunately, it was a big deal back in college. I got saved in college, right in my fraternity, and I went to all these Bible studies. Man, they pull out these basins, and I'm thinking, "Ain't no guy touching my feet!" I'd make up excuses to get out of there before I had to take off my shoes and socks.
Now I'm really glad to hear this; I'm happy to say that I was perfectly fine doing that because do you remember when Moses put the Brazen serpent on the pole? Everyone looked at it and got healed. Later, they made an idol out of it. If you read your Bible, you'll find out they idolized that Brazen serpent. What Jesus was doing had significant meaning, but we have made an idol out of it. I'm so relieved because it has no meaning today.
Let me explain: back in those days, a very wealthy man or a couple would have a household full of servants. They had servants for the animals, the kitchen, the children, and various aspects of the home. The lowest servant, for instance, would have the job of washing the family's and guests' feet when they came into the house. You have to consider that back then, roads weren't concrete or asphalt; they were dirt. Transportation wasn't cars; it was horses, donkeys, and camels. Those animals don't go to rest stops to relieve themselves; they do it right on the road, and many people walked in sandals or barefoot, so when they entered a house, they needed to have their feet cleaned.
In the upper room, these 12 guys who Jesus was having dinner with had entered the house just a couple of hours earlier to find a young female servant, the bottom servant of all the household servants, who washed their feet. So when Jesus pulls this basin out, disrobes, puts a towel around Him, and starts washing their feet, they are freaking out. That's why Peter says, "You are not doing this!" But I love what Jesus says afterward. He says, "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow; do as I have done to you."
The last illustration He leaves is that He is the servant. In fact, He is the number one servant of the church. In other words, He is the bottom of the barrel; He is the one washing your feet. Now, when you stop and think about this, does this change the way we view authority in the Kingdom? So when the Bible says a husband is the head of the home, what does that mean? It means you are the number one servant. You're not the boss of everyone or the one who orders everyone around while you sit and watch football. It means you're the number one servant in the house. That doesn't take away from authority but does transform our view of authority.
Let's just get a little simpler here. We have enough money to buy an outfit for a special event. We can buy either an outfit for my wife or one for me. Guess what we're doing? We're buying an outfit for my wife because I am the chief servant. We're going on vacation; she wants to go to the beach, and I want to go to the mountains. We're going to the beach because I'm the number one servant. If we live this way, we live like Jesus. Are you following me?
When I used to be at our big church, we had 450 paid staff members. We were one of the best-known churches in the United States, and we all had this mentality: one day we would be preachers, have our own churches, and establish our own ministries. Then we would arrive. That mentality was so foolish. The Holy Spirit can really address things. You know what my job was at that church? I took care of all my pastor's needs. I picked up his dry cleaning. I remember giving two of his kids lessons at the YMCA; I was in the pool with 16 moms going, "Touch Mr. Sun Splash!" I was the only guy among 15 other moms and infants, teaching them how to swim. I remember I had to go stud their dog; they had a collie they wanted to reproduce. I had to go to this lady's house and watch two dogs mate in front of a woman I had never met before. I bought their Perrier, got their groceries, and picked their kids up from school. That's my job. I picked up their dry cleaning, washed their cars, and took them to the car wash. That was my role for the first four and a half years of my ministry. I took a several-thousand-dollar-a-year pay cut in engineering to serve my pastor, and I did that for four and a half years. I'll be honest with you; I loved it. I absolutely loved it, and I'll explain that to you in a minute.
I remember driving my pastor's car to get it cleaned at the car wash like I did every three or four days when the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, "Son," and I'll never forget this as long as I live, "If— and there's a big 'if'—I promote you to preaching, it'll be a promotion in serving." I listened, and then He said this to me: "If you mess up now, it's a dry-clean shirt. If you mess up then, it's lives. Lives are much more valuable to me than dry-clean shirts or a car." I realized my whole mentality of leadership was wrong. When I stand on a platform, I realize I have been given a bigger responsibility to serve. If I'm not prepared and don't keep my heart ready, I can mess this up. If I drift, I can mess this up. If I'm not in communion with the Holy Spirit, I'm bombarded by what's coming from the outside, and it filters into how I serve.
This is why Paul says to Timothy, "You are to preach the word because the time will come when they won't endure sound teaching. They will heap up teachers who will tell them what they want to hear." You look at people like me, like Pastor Paul, or Pastor Ashley, and think, "Oh man, they have great positions. They have so many people helping them do all this stuff." No, no, no. It's a greater responsibility in serving. Our way of serving is a little different. This is why the Apostles said, "We have a responsibility to preach the word of God. We cannot be doing all the administrative stuff happening because of the real growth of this church." So we are to lay hands on men and call them to serve the widows their food because we realize we have a responsibility. This is our area of serving.
Are you following me? Now, to take the position of a servant rather than a slave or a hireling, I want to understand the heart of a servant. One of the people I feel exemplifies a servant better than anyone else in the Old Testament is a woman named Rebecca. Okay, can we read about Rebecca?
Now, do you remember the story? Abraham looks at his chief servant and says, "Hey, I don't want my son marrying any of these Canaanite women. I want you to go back and take a long journey back to where I grew up, and I want you to find a wife for my son Isaac among my relatives, among my people that I grew up with." Do you remember this? So the servant goes on a very long journey and takes with him ten camels loaded down with treasures. He makes the long journey and comes to the place where Abraham's relatives live. He prays, saying, "God, let the woman who comes out and not only gives me a drink of water but also waters all my camels be the one you have chosen for my master's son Isaac."
Now, let's start reading from Genesis 24:16. "The young woman was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, 'Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.' 'Yes, my lord,' she answered. 'Have a drink!' And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, 'I'll draw water for your camels too until they have enough to drink.' So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels." That's ten camels!
The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. When the camels had finished drinking, and I'm going to stop right there.
The first aspect of a servant: Servants are willing. Write that down. How do I know that? Look at Genesis 24:17-18. The guy looks at her and says, "Please give me a little drink of water from your jug." Notice her willing attitude. Are you seeing this?
Something I've noticed is that people start out with a servant's attitude, but when they start getting paid for it, they lose that attitude. In other words, their willingness can be driven by the prospect of a reward rather than the mere fact of serving. Peter makes the statement, "Do your work not for mere pay, but from a real desire to serve." Our motivation is not to receive payment or rewards; it is to serve. Are you seeing this? Money can corrupt someone's heart; I'm not saying it does, but it certainly has the potential. Write this down: Serving is its own pleasure. It's not motivated by any other reward.
If someone has the heart of a servant, their reward is in the serving—not in what they receive for serving, not in recognition, not in pay. The reward is in the act of serving itself. Have you ever noticed that when you do something for someone without expecting anything in return, you feel good? Isn't it amazing that God created us to release endorphins and serotonin into our bodies when we do something good for others? Whether by saying a kind word or helping someone shovel their driveway, it just feels good.
I was preaching in a church back in the 1990s, and I remember they had 36 inches of snow in Minnesota in a matter of 24 hours. So, I went out and shoveled the pastor's driveway. They couldn't believe it! They said, "Our guest speaker went out and shoveled our driveway!" I heard about it two months ago when someone recalled it. They said, "I will never forget the guest speaker who shoveled the pastor's driveway." I thought, "Gosh, I didn't think anything of it." But I felt good afterward—I thought that was fun.
So, serving is its own pleasure. Now, remember, I said she was willing. I'll make a statement here: Energy springs forth from desire. When we're willing, energy comes. Have you ever noticed that if you have a teenage son or daughter and you say, "Go clean your room!" they complain, but if their friends come over and say, "Let's go play ball," they run to get their gym shorts on? Where did all that energy come from? Willingness!
When our will is engaged, we are energized. Good preaching, John! Amen! Thank you. A willing heart is impelled rather than compelled. I don't want to be around people who are compelled to do something and drag their feet because their wills aren't engaged. I want to be around energized people.
Our team members have this attitude. They've either gotten it through strong encouragement from me or from our directors, or they don't survive on our team. We had prayer meetings every morning from 8 to 8:20. Oh my gosh, you should see our guys pray! That didn't start out that way. In the beginning of COVID, you could tell people were coming in a bit drowsy and sleepy. But now, they are ready! It took a lot of strong encouragement, if you know what I'm talking about.
A willing heart is agreeable, not disagreeable. In other words, a willing heart seeks to flow with what is being asked or what is needed at the time, rather than suggesting or criticizing. A willing heart is executing, not excusing. A willing heart has the attitude that it can be done. I've told our team time and time again, "Don't you ever come back to me and say it can't be done! Only if it's absolutely impossible should you come back and tell me that, but you better have a better solution." We have a can-do attitude because nothing is impossible for those who believe.
So don't you ever come back to me after one inspection and say it can't be done! You'd better seek a way to get it done because this is how I serve my pastor. I had a personal policy that I would never tell him something couldn't be done without coming back with a better idea for his approval.
Now, number two: Servants excel. Write that down. Let's look at Rebecca's example. She went down to the spring. Watch this closely: "She went down to the spring, filled up her jug, and came up again." Remember that—running over to her, the servant said, "Please give me a little drink of water from your jug." "Yes, my Lord," she answered. "Have a drink!"
Notice she did what she was asked; she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she offered to draw water for his camels, too, until they had enough to drink. There's the second mile. She was only asked for a drink, but she saw a need and, without being asked, met it; thus, she excelled. Are you following this?
Here's what we don't understand as Westerners. After a long journey, a camel can drink anywhere from 30 to 50 gallons of water. This guy has 10 camels! So, multiplying 30 gallons by 10 gives you 300 gallons. A typical carrying container holds about 5 gallons. Do you understand how many containers that would take? Sixty! Sixty times 5 gallons is 300 gallons. The scripture says she went down and came up again. Back in those days, there were two types of wells: one where you let down a bucket and pulled it up and another with steps leading down to the spring. We already know which well she was dealing with; she went down and came up.
Do you understand? This woman voluntarily made 60 trips down that spur to the spring and carried up 5 gallons of water to give to all those camels. Ninety-five percent of her labor was not what she was asked to do but rather what she saw as a need she fulfilled. It's remarkable when you think about it. He didn't even ask her; she just did it. She excelled.
I know it's the grace of God because it was so contrary to my nature. I remember my mom used to weep when I was a teenager, saying, "You are so selfish!" So, I got saved, and my mom was very upset about it. She wouldn't even invite me to my dad's retirement party because she was concerned I was going to preach to the people. Three years later, she looked at me and said, "You've really changed." I believe what she saw that changed me was my journey from being a self-centered young man to one who was able to serve because I had the character of Jesus.
When I got this position, I thought, "I'm going to excel in this." There are stories I could share. I remember my pastor knew my position was the most coveted one. I not only took care of his needs but I took care of all the guest speakers. We had every notable guest speaker coming to our church. I was the guy picking these people up and taking them to dinner. He knew that this position was important, and he tested me. He was hard on me for about nine months, but I just kept smiling and saying, "Yes."
I remember one time his son was at football or soccer practice, and they lived an hour away from the practice field. I heard the husband tell the wife, "I'd love to take you to dinner, but we have to get our son home for homework." It was after hours, around 5:30 PM. I said, "I'll take them home!" He looked at me in disbelief and said, "You'd do that?" He knew I'd have to travel 30 minutes and then back another 30 minutes, adding an hour to my time. I said, "Absolutely!" His whole attitude toward me changed after that because he realized I was there to serve.
There was this time after that that one of our guest speakers came, and it was really cold. He had all his winter clothes but was headed straight from our conference to Hawaii. On the last night of the conference, during dinner, he expressed concern about having to drag all that stuff to Hawaii. I said, "No, you don't!" He asked, "What do you mean?" I said, "Just give me all your winter stuff, and I'll keep it in my apartment until you get back." He responded, "But my flight lands at DFW at 5:30 in the morning, a week from Saturday!" I said, "I'll be there!"
What I'm saying is I just looked for needs and met them. It's interesting how God rewards you for that. Sometime later, I got an eel skin briefcase as a gift—a big deal back then. The pastor said, "That's your eel skin briefcase." I didn't expect that gift, but it came back to me because I expressed a heart of service. She had no idea that while watering those camels, treasures were loaded on them—gold, silver, jewelry—everything she would eventually receive. God will always reward servants, but if you seek the reward first, you will serve with a different motivation.
Here's the thing: Serving is its own pleasure. Anything you gain on top of that is great. But it's interesting how God will always ensure that it gets done.
Now, number three: Servants are swift. Everybody say swift! Watch this: "She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink." Then look at verse 20: "She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran." Do you see this? She wasn't a teenager cleaning her room, she ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.
Today, what's more important than money? Time! Have you ever called your credit card company, but they put you through a long process? You say, "Forget this!" Time becomes more important than whatever you're after. Have you ever been in a long line at a restaurant and decided it wasn't worth the wait? Or when your spouse wants coffee, but the line is too long, you say, "I don't want it that bad"?
Serving that is slow is not serving at all. Write that down: Serving that is delayed and slow is not serving at all.
Next, servants honor. Let's read this: "She said, 'Yes, my Lord,'" notice she calls him "my Lord." This is a total stranger. It's understandable if this were a leader in her community, but this is a stranger from another land. She honored him. You dishonor the person you seek to serve when you let them know how much it took you to do something for them.
Example: I once attended a gathering where a previous assistant of a prominent evangelist was speaking. My pastor had him at his house all night, asking about that evangelist. That ended, and it was late—around 1 AM. My pastor called me and asked if I could come to bring him back to the hotel. I said, "Absolutely! I'll be there in 30 minutes."
What my pastor didn't know was that I had an airport run for the next speaker at 4:45 AM. I got back into bed at 2:30 AM. I didn't tell him because I didn't want to dishonor him. He never needed to know. I just did the job.
So, who you honor reflects who you value, and who you value is who you give your time and energy to. You still with me?
Jesus said: "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever honors me honors the one who sent me." This means that when you serve the least person in the church, you're serving Jesus.
I will never forget this moment. I was driving my pastor's car to get it cleaned once again, and there was a construction guy—holding a stop sign—looking a bit deranged and dirty. The Holy Spirit said, "How valuable is that man?" I thought, "Well, yeah, he's valuable." Then the Spirit brought me to Psalm 49, saying, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" I realized that man's value was greater than what I drove.
God doesn't make unprofitable deals. The more you serve, the more authority God will give you.
Can I share a final story? I was preaching at a conference, feeling strongly led to share specific material I had worked on for years. Yet, that morning, I was led to preach a topic I had written seven years earlier. It felt heavy in my heart, but I obeyed.
Afterward, I learned there was a pastor in that service who needed to hear what I carried that night. The Holy Spirit wanted me to know how serious my disobedience was. I've never disobeyed like that again because it reflects the importance of our mission.
So, in conclusion, servants work hard. A servant works enthusiastically until the job is done. The hireling works to fulfill required hours. Servants don't quit. Rebecca said, "I'll draw water for your camels too until they drink their fill." She kept at it until she had watered all the camels. Servants continue diligently, whether it's giving something as simple as a backpack to a child or discussing Jesus with someone.
I could tell you so many stories about John Mark in the Bible. He was called to serve but left when things got tough. However, he later proved himself. God values our commitment and service. If you stay faithful in your calling, God will reward you and even elevate your standing.
Anyone who serves well gains excellent standing and great boldness in their faith in Christ Jesus. So, be a willing heart, excel in your service, be swift, and honor others. God wants to trust you with His authority.
Now, did you get something out of this today? Amen.