Great Desires

Mark 10: ⁴¹ And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. ⁴² But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. ⁴⁴ And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

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This time I had a plan. I would arrive a little early so I could position myself near the door. When the gym teacher would say “Go” I would burst out of the door and run to the fence. The first one to the fence would be the captain of the team and I wanted to be captain for a change. As I raced out the door the faster kids beat me profusely!

• There were times when I wanted to be on top.
• There were times when I wanted to be the one in charge.
• There were times when I wanted to be the person in the spotlight.

Competition and conflict spread through the disciples. Each one wanted to be great amongst men. JESUS saw what was going on so HE called them to teach them an important lesson about true greatness.

• JESUS says to me “If you want to be great you must desire to be a servant.”
• JESUS says to me “I did not come to be served, but to serve” so use this as you example.
• JESUS says to me “I came to ransom MY life for you and for many.”

Desire had to be put in check. JESUS wants me to desire to be great, but do it HIS way. HE came as a servant and wants me to be one too. HE knows the world would laugh at the things HE calls “great” like simply smiling at people or praying for those ahead of me in traffic.

“You call that great?” the world would say. GOD says “If you have served even a cup of water to these little ones you have served ME.” Yes, that is great! Now, back to the playground. I served as a person on the team as best I could and the team captain said, I want you on my team again. “Hmm, maybe there is something to serving after all.” I thought to myself.

• Do you desire to be great?
• Are you busy telling everyone how great you are?
• Can you redefine your definition of greatness as one who serve JESUS by serving others?