It Starts Small

I wonder at times if the people who will be rewarded the most in heaven are the ones no one will even know. The least known on earth. In all of us there is this pull to want to be known. We all want a clap, a praise, a recognition. It feels good.

I can remember all throughout my schooling as a child, my motivation was to get praise and acceptance in any way possible. Sports made that possible. I trained harder. I worked harder to beat everyone I could just to stand on a podium to be clapped and praised. The more I got, the better I felt about myself.

This continued on into adulthood. I picked jobs that I knew I could out-do others. I did things to get the praise and recognition of others. But this drive to be known led to a struggle of constantly comparing myself to others.

As I started this journey a few years ago, I still struggled with this need. Everything I was reading in scripture was pointing in a different direction. In fact, the Savior I was following said things like: the least of these would be the greatest; those who pray to be seen or heard have their reward now; man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

All of these scriptures described a servant. It got me to thinking and pondering. What if instead of that small stage we all clamor to be on to have our moments in the sun, there is a much bigger stage that involves every moment we live and everyone we come into contact with and every place we take Jesus is our stage?

IS that not freeing?

As followers of Christ, we are most alive when we serve. Why? Because it is Jesus serving through us. When He is doing the serving, the impact is beyond far greater than the clap back on the small stage we desire. We must set our hearts on knowing that God sees us where we are at and there is never a higher position to ever be attained than that of a servant. IF He chooses to make you well-known, it is because it is for the sole purpose of pointing others to Christ.

I do still wonder if the most known in eternity will have been the least known on earth. We will find out one day. Until then, keep serving and know that the Lord loves you. Be faithful. The example for all of us is in our Servant King!

Thoughts to Ponder:

• Do you find yourself with a need to be seen and heard?
• How can being a servant fulfill the need within us to be seen and heard?
• How does Jesus fill this need?
• Why can’t people fill our need?
• How does focusing on the grand scale of every moment make huge impacts in the lives around us?

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