Aspiring to be Great in the Kingdom of God

Former Detroit Piston basketball player, Isiah Thomas, wrote a short tribute to his Piston coach Chuck Daly who recently died. If the article had been a poem, it would have had the word "ode" in the title. This was a work of praise to a man who was well loved and respected. He motivated his team players to be their best at all times. Mediocre did not survive around Chuck Daly. Remember Detroit's "bad boys" of the 80's? I hated it when Detroit came to town! Street ball. Not only were they motivated, but he expected his team to perform each and every game. In describing his coach, Thomas used such phrases and words as "champion," "mentor," "one of the greatest coaches," and "warrior."
Jesus also has words for those who would be great in the Kingdom of God, be a servant, Matt. 20:26. When love and respect for Jesus fills our lives, serving His people is His calling to us. In His time, Jesus makes us into the kind of servants that will become mentors, champions, warriors (we never give up!). The servants of Christ are gracious, well-respected and always teaching His word, telling and living His story. From the Savior who says "most assuredly," we are fully confidant of what we can do in His name. What more do we need in motivation than to have the Savior of the world as our Leader? We have all that we need in the face of adversity, God is the God who raises up champions and warriors! When we read that we can do all things through Christ, do we really believe, or do we admit it's in our minds but not our hearts yet? If you are in the land of "yet" still, take a leap of faith and believe you can because Jesus said it. That truth will bring us to the next step, and the next, and the next. Jesus has given us every word we need to fulfill our role as servant in this life. We can do all things only because Jesus has fully prepared the way for us in His word and on this earth when He was here.
I challenge you today to believe that Jesus will do the impossible for you. To believe that the call to servanthood is real and He has equipped us to do that very thing by imitating His example. No big wondering how I'm ever going to do it, it's all laid out in His holy word. Today is a day of challenges on all sides for the Christ follower and if we accept His challenge to deny ourselves and follow Him, everything we have need of will be taken care of. Trust Him, He is worthy!!