Hey y’all! It’s Alyssa, I hope you guys are having a good day! For those of you guys who don’t know, this week is Holy Week- the week before Easter. This week is HUGE, and comes with the most amazing prize at the end of the week! Jesus did not just stay in the tomb, he was resurrected! I am challenging myself to really dig into the Easter story this Holy week. Today, I am going to be talking about serving! For as long as I could remember, I have always loved to serve. I remember in 1st grade rushing to get done with my work so that I could help my teacher with whatever she needed! Whether it be running papers to the office, or helping grade papers, I found great joy in serving others.
Serving can be a hard thing. Most times, serving isn’t the most glamorous or loveliest thing in the world, but I believe it is so vital for Christians to serve. In a world such as ours, everyone wants to lead, but no one wants to serve. Everyone wants to be the person to get the fame, but no one will step down and do the nitty gritty tasks needed completed. I remember on Operation Barnabas, it was the 4th of July, and our team was serving at a firework show at a VERY large church. There was an estimated 50,000 people there, and it was so cool to see the Gospel moving in such amazing ways! At the end of the show, our team helped with clean-up. We needed to gather all the trashcans, and put the bags into the large trash containers. One of the guys on our team, Jordan, was a perfect example of a servant for Christ. He did not complain the WHOLE day… we were running on 4 hours of sleep, and worked in the sun for hours on end. When he was lifting the trash to put it in the bin, there was a hole in the bag and this mysterious liquid went ALL over Jordan… including in his mouth. Instead of complaining, he immediately continued to serve and get the job done. Throughout the entire summer, Jordan constantly was looking for ways to serve others before himself.
One day, when we arrive in the kingdom of God, we will serve others. On Operation Barnabas, I made beautiful relationships with so many people across the world. I know the chances of seeing many of them again is very slim, but I have full and complete confidence that in the Kingdom of God, we will all be beautifully reunited. When we were volunteering at a homeless shelter on Skid Row, we all got in a circle and sang worship songs on the rooftop, and at that time, I believe I got a glimpse of what heaven will be like.
John 13:3-5 says: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” When He washed the disciples feet, Jesus moved toward the thing nobody else wanted to do- s e r v e. I try to live a lifestyle of “washing someone’s feet”. To swallow my pride and forget my ego to be more of an example of Christ. I personally believe that there is always more to do in my relationship with Jesus, always more ways to serve, more things to see, and more people to tell about Jesus. I also fully believe that the Son of God did not come to be serve, but to serve. Even in His last days, Jesus served others. Our God glorifies Him by serving us, and I think that is the coolest thing! Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even if this death was a horrendous one on a cross.
After all this talk about serving, I challenge you to ask yourself what is God calling you to do to serve? Is it helping out at your church? Or maybe going on a missions trip? It might even be sharing your faith and serving your friend at school. I challenge you to pray about this, and follow what God is telling you.
I hope you guys have an amazing week! I will be trying to really dig into my Bible every day this week, and I challenge you to do the same! Raegan & I are praying for you guys, we love you!!
a daughter of grace 