Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday January 13th 2021

Matthew 23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

When Booker T Washington became the President of Tuskegee Institute in Montgomery, Alabama, he was on one of his regular morning walks in town. He was walking by a house of a wealthy family, and the lady of the house mistook him for one of the men her husband had hired to do some work around their estate.

She asked Dr. Washington if he would chop up some wood to bring in for the fireplace. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and began chopping the wood. When he brought the wood in the house, one of the servants recognized him and told the mistress of the house of his identity. The following morning the woman rushed down to Dr. Washington's office and offered a heartfelt apology. President Washington assured her that there was no problem and said that he enjoyed helping out a friend. His humility so took her that she donated a large sum of money to the university and encouraged many wealthy friends to do the same. Dr. Washington raised more money from that one bundle of firewood than from many of his other fundraising campaigns. 

The followers of Jesus were debating who would be the greatest when Jesus restored the kingdom of Israel and ousted the Romans (Luke 22:24). The disciples had bought into the same idea as the rest of Judaism, that the Messiah would be a military conqueror. Jesus explained to them that the Gentiles' leaders lorded over their followers, but that a Christian leader would be a servant to thoes that he or she led. Jesus demonstrated this by pouring water in a basin and washing his disciples' feet (John 13:5). These prior fishermen were debating which one was the greatest while among them was the creator of the universe, the king of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. 

We can take from this great Bible example that we are never too big, too great, or too important to be a servant to those around us. The mark of a great person is how much they serve others, how much of their lives they are willing to surrender to Christ Jesus and be a servant to all people. The mark of a servant leader is that they recognize that they are part of a team and always remember that there is no "I" in team.

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