Lead By Serving

2 Thessalonians 2:8 says "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth  and destroy by the splendor of His coming." When I read that this morning, I was amazed again at how awesome the power of our God is. I can just picture Jesus giving one breath, sort of like the way you blow out a candle, and the lawless one is overthrown. When He returns, just the splendor of seeing Jesus coming in the clouds will be enough to overthrow the lawless one. We serve an awesome and powerful God! Make sure you are on the winning side.

I then read Mark 10:35-45, which begins with James and John telling Jesus that they want Him to do for them whatever they ask. Every time I have read this, the first thing that comes to my mind is "Wow! That was very bold of them to TELL Jesus that they wanted Him to do whatever they asked. Who do they think they are?" Yet, Jesus didn't condemn them for saying that to Him. He asked them, "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus wants us to come to Him with our requests! I'm equally amazed at the gall of James and John when they tell Jesus that they want to sit at His left and right when He was in His glory (ruling His kingdom). Did they really think they deserved to hold those high positions?! Apparently they did! You'd think that Jesus would have really told them that they had a big problem with their egos or something, but He didn't condemn them at all. He simply told them that He could not grant their request. When the rest of the disciples heard about this, it wasn't surprising to hear that they were indignant with James and John. This is when Jesus says "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43b-45)

We need to live our lives the way Jesus did. If anyone deserved to have people serving Him, it was Jesus! He is the King of Kings after all! Yet, He came to earth to serve others, and to die for our sins!  Some people get wrapped up in wanting the power and prestige that comes with being a leader. To be a good leader, you need to be willing to serve others. Pray for those who serve under you, that they will have a servant's heart and be willing to help you do your job. Pray for God's guidance and admit that you can't do it on your own. Listen to ideas that others may have and bring those ideas to the Lord as well. Follow Jesus' example and you will succeed at being a leader.