Devotion by Agnes Soh (Pastoral Staff)
What do we understand about greatness in a person? Is greatness about achieving success, power and riches? How do we measure greatness in someone?
And what does the Bible say about greatness?
Matt 20: 26 – 27 TPT
The greatest one among you will live as the one who is called to serve others, because the greatest honour and authority is reserved for the one with the heart of a servant.
The world may measure greatness by one’s successes, achievements or wealth; but to be genuinely great in God’s eyes, the Word of God says that one must be a servant.
In other words, Greatness is Servanthood.
What does it take to be a servant to all? Servanthood is not about position or skill. It is about your attitude, your motive and the desire to serve with humility and a pure heart.
Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service and character.” – William Arthur Ward
Mark 10:35-37
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask. V37…Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.
James and John, two of Jesus disciples desired greatness. More than that, they craved fame and status.
But what Jesus taught about greatness differed from what these disciples thought!
We cannot be “great” on our own terms.
1 Chron 29;11-12
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory. The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; yours is the kingdom, O lord, And you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In your hand is power and might; In your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
David says that greatness is in the hands of God, and therefore, we can never make ourselves great. God alone holds the key!
Abram was a mere man. But it was God that made Abraham great!
Greatness is a covenant.
Gen 12:1-3, 13:14-16, 17:5-8
God told Abraham that “I will make you great…” but God developed Abraham through a process of wilderness experiences into greatness!
Greatness is a journey that God takes us through.
Abraham had to go through the experience one day at a time; he did not get from zero to greatness. Hence, we too, must be patient as God takes us through this journey.
However, this journey to greatness is never easy. Jesus exemplified servanthood through His obedience and love to the point of suffering through death.
Phil 2:7-9
Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even on the cross!
Greatness is walking in total obedience and love for God.
I have come to realise in my years of serving the Lord and in my pursuit of God’s kingdom purposes, there were many times in my journey when my obedience and love for Him were tested.
John 12:24 NIV
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Every day, we are to die to our “self”—our self- interest, self-ambition, self-reasoning, and self-righteousness—to walk in obedience and love for Him.
During the Covid pandemic when the whole world was in a state of lockdown, one of our School of Theology alumnus who runs an orphan ministry shared with us about how the children were unable to go to school. They had difficulty continuing their lessons as the education programme was broadcast via national TV, and most homes had no TV.
My first thought was to raise money to buy a TV for 12 homes, as I firmly believe that every child should have equal opportunity when it comes to education. I shared about the situation with my mission team. We had our doubts as to whether we could raise enough money as many people were badly hit by the pandemic and finances were tight. Everyone seemed to be living in a state of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. It wasn’t the most ideal time to raise funds for the 12 TV sets, yet we believed in our hearts that this was what God wanted us to do; and so we obeyed and committed the result to God.
Matt 18:5 TPT
And if you tenderly care for this little one on my behalf, you are tenderly caring for me
This was the verse that we held on to and motivated us.
God is truly our Source! To our delight and surprise, with managed to raise enough money for the 12 TV sets and installation fees within a mere three days.
This would not have been possible if all of us withheld the little seed in our hands. We learnt to obey even when it was inconvenient. We put aside our self-interest and obeyed God because we love Him and we heard His heartbeat for the little ones He had entrusted in our care.
Friends, we will definitely be tested in our journey of obedience and love for God. But God is going to take us through a lifetime of journey to greatness, where we learn to serve, walking in humility, total obedience and love.
So, let us stay on the path of greatness!