A Servant First, A Servant Always

One day, several years ago, I ran into my pastor at the church where I had gone to pray. We struck up a conversation and after a bit I asked, “Do you need anything, Pastor?”

“The walls in the hallway need painting,” he said.

I was a bit taken back. Paint the walls? Couldn’t he find people to do that? I was in the period when our ministry was the most active in producing record breaking youth events. I was traveling to some city in the Midwest about half the time, and He wanted me to paint walls?

I thought about it, and I decided I was too busy to paint walls. I never went to the church to paint walls. When I think about it now, several years later, I am a bit embarrassed. The truth of the matter was that I thought I was too important to paint walls. That is embarrassing.

If Elijah had asked Elisha to paint walls, he would have painted walls. Elisha would have done anything Elijah asked him to do.

Have you ever wondered why Elisha was chosen to be Elijah’s successor? There were a lot of prophets, students of Elijah who were potential candidates. How many, the Bible is not clear. When Elijah and Elisha arrived at the Jordan River, the place God had apparently appointed where Elijah would be taken up into heaven, 50 prophets followed them and stood at a distance to witness the event. Previously, a group of prophets came out at both Bethel and Jericho, as Elijah and Elisha passed by on their way to the Jordan. We know there were at least 50 prophets in these schools and probably over 100.

So why was Elisha chosen above all the other prophets?

The Bible doesn’t say why. God may have had many reasons, but I suspect a very big reason was that Elisha had the heart of a servant. He was dedicated to Elijah and he would have done anything Elisha asked him to do . . . even paint walls!

The first mention of Elisha in the Bible is when God gave Elijah instructions from the cave where he went after he learned Jezebel was wanting to kill him. He went from the cave and found Elisha plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. Elijah threw his prophet’s mantle on the shoulders of Elisha. This was a weighty act. It meant that Elijah had chosen Elisha to join Him. It was the call of God on Elisha’s life, and Elisha immediately knew what it meant. (1 Kings 19:19,20)

When Jesus chose the first disciples, the Bible narrative reports that “they left all and followed Him.”

This means they left their profession and former life to start a new one. Can you imagine the magnitude of this act, “leaving all?” If Jesus appeared at your workplace and said, “Leave all of this and follow me,” what would you do? Could you leave literally, your life behind for good?

Elisha was no small farmer. He had 12 yoke of oxen, which means he had a large operation. He had a successful enterprise of considerable size. Yet, he didn’t hesitate, except that he asked to say good-bye to his father and mother.

Then he killed the oxen and used the plow to start a fire on which he cooked the two oxen and gave the meat to the people to eat. Then he left it all behind, for good, and joined Elijah. (1Kings 19:21)

I can almost predict the number of visitors that will log on and read this article. I would guess it might be less than it would be to an article about the blessings of God to the individual. People are more interested in what God might give them, than they are about service or sacrifice. Getting things from God is part of being a child of God. God is a loving Father who loves to give good gifts to His children.

There is, however, the other thing . . . being a servant. You will not amount to much in the kingdom of God unless you develop a servant’s heart. If we really love God, we should be anxious and waiting to be useful and to do the things He asks us to do. That kind of person is the person God promotes in the kingdom.

I remember very clearly, several years ago, driving down I-35 in Minneapolis on my way downtown. Charles Stanley was on the radio talking about the reward of a faithful servant. He baited the audience as to what that reward might be, but he didn’t tell us. He went on developing the message and keeping us in suspense. When he finally spilled it, what the reward was, I was quite shocked. He said the reward for doing the work God gives us to do, is that God gives us more work.

“Well now,” I thought. “That doesn’t seem very exciting. When you are faithful to what God gives you to do, He gives you more work. I’m not sure that motivates me to do God’s work.

Now, many years later, I am quite comfortable with the teaching. When I do a good job in some assignment God gives me to do, and then He immediately gives me more work to do, I am happy about that. Why? Because I know He trusts me. He is confident that whatever He gives me to do, I will give it my best effort.

There is a big shortage in the kingdom of God for dependable workers. How do I know that? I just look around at all the things that should be done for the kingdom that are not getting done, and I know that the reason is God doesn’t have enough faithful workers.

Billy Graham was always disappointed with the follow-up training for new believers after a crusade. What was the reason? There weren’t enough good workers to do the job and to do it right. I had the same problem with the events our ministry did over several years. There were not enough people who were willing to disciple and invest time into a new believer. I once visited with a fiery young evangelist who was known to do good evangelistic events. He said that everything with the events went very well until they got to the follow-up. “The follow-up is terrible!” he said.

You want some scripture to back this up? Jesus said, “The fields are white unto harvest but the laborers are few. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers (John 4:35 – my paraphrase).”

Promotion comes to those who humble themselves before God and ask Him, “Lord, what do you want me to do.”

God is looking for good workers. Is He looking for you?

If you develop the attitude of a humble servant, waiting for God’s directives, you will be one step ahead in your Christian walk.

Photo designed and taken by Lorraine