What Do You Want to be First In?

The first of three posts on the Inverted Kingdom...

Memory Verse

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all."   Mark 9:35 (NIV)

Reflection

So what do you want to be first in?  If you could choose one thing in life to be first in, what would you want it to be?

That may be one of the most important questions you ever ask yourself because, like it or not, your REAL answer is what will shape your life.  By REAL answer, I don't mean the "right" answer.  I mean the answer others would give when they look at your life, see how you spend your time, see how you spend your money, and see what drives your passions.

If we look at our lives and how we spend our time and money, for most of us, the REAL answer would be that we want to be first in our careers, first in our lifestyles, and possibly first in our families.  We like being seen as first in the eyes of the world.  It's what we are striving for, even though we know it really isn't that satisfying or fulfilling and it is downright exhausting and debilitating.  We know the "right" answer to the question of what we should want to be first in, but we aren't ready to turn our lives upside down to experience or pursue that.

When Jesus spoke the words above, He was saying that if we want to be first in the kingdom (which, by the way, is the "right" answer), we must be the very last, the servant of all.  Wow - that goes pretty counter to our modern culture!  And so we are introduced to this "inverted kingdom"  where a child is the one given as an example of how we must enter it and the first becoming last and the last first is a sign that the kingdom is among us.

The Reformation Study Bible identifies self-abandonment or joining Jesus in being the servant of all as "the first and foremost role in the kingdom and provides the standard for Jesus' disciples in whatever secondary roles they might play in the kingdom of God."

The only way the inverted nature of this kingdom makes sense and is something worth embracing is if the king of this kingdom has our back.  We know from the posts below that Jesus is the king of this kingdom, and Jesus has our back!

Questions to Consider

1.  Is the kingdom you are experiencing "inverted" or pretty much in line with the pattern of this world?  (Be honest!)

2.  Are you ready and willing to embrace the inverted kingdom and become the servant of all?

Action Steps for the Week

1.  Choose to do some act where you put yourself last and become the servant of all, and do it with great joy.

2.  Pray daily that you will come to a deeper appreciation that Jesus has your back and, as a result, you can embrace becoming the servant of all.