As we seek to please Jesus in all our ways, it’s important that we examine His life prayerfully and follow His example carefully. Jesus invested His life in very specific ways. When we look at Him, we can easily see where His heart was. If your desire is to serve Jesus—to serve in your church and in your community and to make a difference—it will be easy to do when you know what mattered most to Jesus.
Luke in his gospel records for us a clear picture of what matters to Jesus:
Luke 4:18–19 (NKJV) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
When you serve God, He doesn’t want you to serve in your own strength and wisdom, but in the power of the Spirit of God. It matters to God that you are a man or woman filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and engulfed in the power of God.
As we walk in the Spirit, our priorities become His priorities. We have a heart to preach to the poor. Our sensitivity to serve the brokenhearted grows. We aim to preach liberty to the captives and healing for the blind! We are surrounded by the oppressed so that we might serve them proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord.
Listen, especially you pastors, be careful in how you choose your priorities. The liberty spoken here is not a national freedom. It’s not a fight against some supposed governmental tyranny or an emphasis on saving the constitution. People. Jesus came on a rescue mission to save people. He’s still active today. Join Him! Please.
Adapted from Ordinary Servant
(13)
