Subscribe to Every Post:During my time away on my sabbatical I had many people speak into my life, and I spent time trying to gain perspective on my future. I feel I received insight into many different areas. Let me give one of those insights in the personal realm. I have become aware that as I view my relationship with God, I predominantly see myself as a hard working servant of Christ. I love progress and growth in life, and I am consistently striving to serve God in greater ways.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with being a hard-working servant of God. In fact, we are all called to serve God. I Peter 2:16 says, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”
At the same time, it is also true that everyone who follows and worships Jesus in life is a son or daughter of God. This isn’t just someone who is God’s servant, tending the garden as an employee; rather, this is someone who is a cherished son or daughter of the king.
If you have ever seen the TV show “The Apprentice” you know that Donald Trump interviews and evaluates potential hires – people who will work for him and represent him (a coveted position to work for one of the richest men in the world).
In the TV show, however, as he is interviewing these candidates, who is usually to his right and left? His son and daughter. Do they work for their dad? Absolutely. However, everyone knows those two are in a league all by themselves as they work alongside other employees. They are family.
Romans 8:15-17 says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
God is my dad, and Jesus is my brother. I am in the family.
I don’t need to prove my love to my dad. I don’t need to earn his love by my hard work. He is not going to fire me and disown me if I mess up.
The realization that I am not just a hard working servant of God but a cherished son of the king is something I don’t think I understand too well. I think my imbalanced understanding of this has affected me and my perspective in life more than I realize.
I believe God wants to take me on a personal journey during this next season of my life and help me understand what it truly means to be his cherished son. The thought that God would pat me on the back and say, “I am proud of you son,” is a foreign concept to me today. I hope that as I understand his unconditional love and my position in Jesus, this will be something I believe on a regular basis as I serve and glorify my heavenly father.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Hey Chris…
Just wanted to let you know that I used part of this blog post last night in my sermon on Galatians 4.1-7. It fit so perfectly with the text and it illustrated how easy it is for us to always live as the slave and not step into the fullness of what it means to be a Son and an Heir. The line “God is my dad, Jesus is my brother. I’m in the family” was the takehome statement for me.
Thanks for sharing what you’re learning and what God’s doing in you.
andy.
July 30th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Hey Andy. Thanks for the comment. Glad it was helpful in your message. God is really stretching me in this area. It is exciting.
Peace!