The Ultimate Servant

We are now less than 3 days away from Tijuana - but up till this morning it was the last thing on my mind. This week is the last major hurdle to jump before I can take a break from school and Ann Arbor, with deadlines and projects and photos due, so I have been quite frantically busy. However, in my devotional this morning, I read Matthew 20, where Jesus teaches the disciples that the lowest of servants are greatest in his eyes:

"...Whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

What a timely reminder! I would almost hate to get on the plane to San Diego and only then remember why I'm going: to serve others, to share God's love among the poor and oppressed. God, humble my heart now, even as the stresses of school overwhelm me. Make me a servant now, and keep me humble throughout this week and the next. God, we anticipate great things!

"Oh Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes"

I just got back from our February edition of ULateNite.

My mind is reeling.

I am totally and continuously astounded at how God can take utter disorganization and turn it into something profound.  The setlist for tonight only came together 24 hours ago; we came in fairly unrehearsed, threw it all together, and prayed it out.  Tonight was different though - I was shaking with a nervous excitement - I knew something amazing was going to happen, and I think Tone and the rest of the team knew it as well.

On a day when the rest of the city is focused on romance, how better to spend it with the source of love - our God.  On this day, we place God at the top of the list.  We give him everything we have. We affirm His place and the work that He is doing in us and around us.  God is love - and we place Him at the center of our lives.

2 weeks!

We had our last pre-trip team meeting last night.  The schedule is in place, flights are booked, packing list is out... it's go time, baby.

Guard your steps (when you go to the house of God)

It's easy to get confused studying the Bible.  (For those of you who have yet to figure out what order Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians come in, you're kinda just scratching the surface.)  Ecclesiastes has become my little "home base" of sorts I return to when I become overwhelmed or find myself at a dead end.

I've been through Ecclesiastes numerous times, but today, one verse is jumping out at me.

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong."

More specifically, this part:

"Go near to listen."

I wonder.  Once in a while I'll end up praying with some friends for certain things, but I never stop to see how God answers those prayers.  (I guess I always assume that God will work things out.)  Perhaps the first part of that verse is a key to a better habit of prayer: "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God."  When you pray, are thoughts of homework or the next item on your to-do list floating around in the back of your mind?  Are you anxious to fulfill your "conversation time" with God over with so that you can get on with your life?  Slow down - be with God.  Talk with him, not at him.

And I guess that's the crux of my reflections this week: I want to be able to draw near to the throne of God and be with the One who loves with an everlasting love.  I want to listen to the One who knows my past, present, and future - the One who speaks with a wisdom above all earthly wisdoms.  Most of all, I want to be able to do so in humility, in the knowledge that without my Savior, I would not even be able to approach the throne in the first place.