A Servant is Not Greater Than His Master.

Thursday 16^th May 2019. Read Acts 13:13-25, Psalm 89 and John 13:16-20.

_*“Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” (John 13:16)*_

One of the temptations of Jesus is Pride. Satan told Jesus to jump down from the pinnacle of the temple in the presence of the people so that by so doing, God would send Angels to prevent him from crashing and people would begin to revere him assuming he fell from heaven to the earth.

This temptation remains forever rife among ministers of God today; it is the temptation to make ourselves appear likes gods; greater than the ordinary. It is a temptation to make people believe we are closer to God and so, therefore, higher, more important, more sophisticated, more intelligent, wiser than other human beings.

This is why time and again we see videos emerging on social media containing abuses being carried out by men and women of God in the name of deliverance or miracle impartation. For instance, a man of God was seen commanding his congregation to eat grass and they literally obeyed this instruction. Not long ago, a video went viral of a man of God who was beating his chest and boasting after what he describes as the miraculous healing of professed sister.

In all honesty, a lot of Christians today do not worship God. Yes, a lot of Christians are idol worshippers. The only difference is that the idol worship is our priest, pastor, general overseer, founder, or evangelist and so on. We consider an infringement of the first commandment to have images of Mary, the Mother of God but we have no problem wearing images of our priests and pastors on our necks for protection. We just forget that the man or woman of God is only a servant.

As Jesus puts it in today’s Gospel passage, a servant is not greater than His Master neither is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. Doing the work of God requires humility on our part, not to think less ourselves but to think more highly of God and ensure that all praise is properly directed to Him and not to us. We are only servants, instruments and carriers of God’s anointing.

In our first reading today, we hear Paul preach for the first time since his conversion. Will a man who once hated Christianity with a passion suddenly turn around and start preaching about Jesus? It simply shows us that it is the power of God at work. Dear friends, never submit yourself to be abused by anyone, treated with less dignity or denied your human rights in the name of seeking miracles. And refrain from giving glory to the minister when you give testimonies. All glory should go to the Master, not the servant.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, instil in me the virtue of humility and service. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 4^th Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 13:13-25, Psalm 89 and John 13:16-20).