Through God’s Eyes

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, 

he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

-- Mark 9:35

Let's consider it our Book of Life -- God’s words for us to live by. It’s through the Bible's pages that we learn our Creator not only loves us, but he’ll do whatever it takes to have an everlasting relationship with us. Meanwhile, we also discover that God’s ways aren’t our ways. And his thoughts aren’t our own.

That’s actually quite an understatement. For example, the world

teaches us to beat the competition, climb the corporate ladder and keep up with the neighbors (and then pass them by). We must have the biggest, the best and the shiniest. And we also need to drive the right car and have the right job. After all, life is all about us.

There’s little room for humility with that attitude. But God invites Christ-followers to see things from his perspective: To be first, we must be last. Of course, this viewpoint turns things totally inside out. And that’s just the point.

How much better would this world be if we saw things through God’s eyes and put the interests of others before our own? Jesus answered this question by example. First, he willingly surrendered his advantages as God’s Son. He entered the world amidst humble circumstances — a birth among farm animals in a lowly stable. When he grew older, he made a working-man’s living as a carpenter. And he could have lived in splendor as the King of Kings. But instead, Christ chose a nomadic existence to teach God’s Good News of salvation to his people.

These were humble circumstances. But Jesus’ ultimate act of humility was to suffer the fate of a common criminal — one that he didn’t deserve because of his perfect, sinless life. His was a horrific death on a cross to pay for the countless ways we’ve failed to live up to God’s standards.

How can we acquire Christ's remarkable servant-leader attitude? Above all, we must embrace our blessings by recognizing the wonderful things God has done for us — and continues to do for us every day. Without him, we are nothing. But through him, all things are possible.

Imitating Jesus to make God’s ways and thoughts our own will never be society’s formula for success. But when we turn our backs to the world and follow The Way, we’ll see that it’s through humility — not ambition — that both we and the world change for the better.