The Parables of Jesus Series | Parable of the Servant’s Role

On By EfuaIn Bible Series, Bible Series - Teachings, Bible Study

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” Luke 17:7-10

Did i hear an ouchy? We can become so accustomed to the tenderness of Jesus and have forgotten that He is also the truth teller. In fact, He is the truth. The above text is “i’m telling you exactly the way it is” kind of text. There is a saying that we don’t praise a fish for swimming. Reason being that a fish is expected to swim anyway.

Yesterday, my daughter asked me what was her reward for tidying up her room. I told her that they don’t get rewarded for doing what they were meant to do. This led to us having a talk about expectations and rewards. She understood in the end.

As children of God, there is an expectation of us. God expects us to look like Him and act like Him. He expects us to serve Him because that was the reason why we were created.

We don’t serve God so He can be good to us. We serve God because we love Him. This mindset is what will make us worship even when our prayers are not being answered. It is what will make us serve Him even when we get a ‘no’ from Him instead of a yes. It is the reason why we can still say He is the good good father even when we are grieving the death of a loved one.

Our obedience to God is our duty to Him which we must regard as a privilege. It isn’t something extra we do for God. It is the whole duty of man. When we refuse to obey Him, we are telling Him that He is not worthy of our obedience. When we rebel against His instructions, we are rubbing shoulders with Him and exalting ourselves above Him. In those moments, we make ourselves lord over us. This in itself is idolatry. Are you your idol?

In this text, Jesus is not suggesting that our service is meaningless or useless, neither is He advocating doing away with rewards. He is simply attacking unwarranted self-esteem and spiritual pride.

We are saved to serve.

24 thoughts on “The Parables of Jesus Series | Parable of the Servant’s Role”

  1. Robert

    I love this parable. So many blogs are about our “worthiness”. The Bible I read is about God’s worth and our unworthiness! The fact that He saves us despite our unworthiness is all the more wonderful than if we deserved to be saved!

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  2. This is so well written. This is the third blog I have seen with the same message as the one in my blog. God is so cool that way. He will get His message out. It always excites me to hear His confirmation. God bless. ♡

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    2. Yes, God is amazing that way in how he coordinates our blog posts to where several of us write on the same subject the same day with almost the same message. And, it is God’s confirmation, indeed.

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  3. “We don’t serve God so He can be good to us. We serve God because we love Him. This mindset is what will make us worship even when our prayers are not being answered.”

    So true, and so well said, Efua!

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  4. There’s a fine line between loving yourself (love others as you love yourself) and idolizing yourself. We need to ask the Spirit to show us any wicked way that’s in us as King David did.
    Blessed is the one who has a true estimation of themselves in light of Jesus Christ within and the value of the other people God has placed around them. Temperance in all matters and awareness of Whose we are seems to be the best way to walk this out!

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  6. Efua, this is so good! What is usually being taught these days is just the opposite. The focus is flipped the other direction, as though God is here to serve us, and that it is all about us and what he does for us and not about what is required of us in love response to him because of what he did for us. So many people have it all backwards. There is not the fear of God in their lives, and that is heartbreaking. So, thank you for telling the truth like it is. I appreciate you! ❤

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    1. Some believers have lowered God down to their slave. Even if they don’t verbalise it this way, their actions says so. Oftentimes when this notion is tried to be corrected, the person trying to make correction is faced with attack and treated as a “prophet of doom” and treated as though he/she doesn’t understand the grace of God. God help us all

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      1. Oh, I know! How I know! You are absolutely correct, but no matter what they say, we have to keep telling them the truth. For, the lies will not save them, no matter how good they sound. Thanks, Efua, for telling the truth. I appreciate you! How are you doing?

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      2. True sis. I am doing well. Sometimes I do feel overwhelmed with doing homeschool, working from home and looking after my 3 yrs old at the same time. How are you and your family?

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      3. Efua, I feel for you. I can’t imagine trying to do all of that. I am well. It is just me and my husband most of the time now. I am still writing every day, but spending more time with my husband since he can’t go do other things now like he could before. We are enjoying the sunshine and everything coming back to life. We have a beautiful view of the woods from our apartment. We have been getting out and walking, and we get out to the grocery store. We are keeping up on what is being reported in the news and we are reading other stuff, too. And, we talk about what we see or what we read. So, no time here to get bored, either. 🙂

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      4. I think that is one good thing from this season. The fact that life has hit a reset button and we are able to spend more time together as families😊. Love your view from your apartment

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