2. Practical Applications and Prayer
① Serving Unseen
Whose approval am I seeking when I serve?
The Pharisees made their phylacteries larger and the tassels on their garments longer, which were meant to remind them of God and His commandments. Their devotion to God had gradually become a performance before others.
Today, I serve and wait for someone to notice. I want to record my efforts with a photograph or a message in the group chat.
This week, do one good thing and tell no one about it. Whether you buy someone a coffee or help someone in need, leave no record of what you have done.
“My Father, who sees what is done in secret, already sees me. It is all right for me to step down from the stage.”
② Giving the Credit Away
Whose name do I want to hear mentioned first?
The Pharisees loved being greeted in the marketplaces and being called Rabbi, which means ‘my teacher’. In their presence, Jesus said, “You have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.”
Today, when things go well, I want my name to be mentioned first. When no one responds to something I have written, it bothers me. When someone else receives praise, I feel diminished.
This week, at work, at home or in church, mention someone else’s name first at least once a day by saying, “We have ○○ to thank for this.”
“I have already been given a place beside the One whose name is above every name. I do not need my own name to be mentioned first.”
③ A Hand, Not a Lecture
Are my words becoming a burden on someone else’s shoulders?
The Pharisees tied up heavy burdens and laid them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves were unwilling to lift a finger to help. They stood with folded arms beside those who had collapsed under their burdens, saying, “You really ought to be able to manage this.”
Today, I am quick to burden my children, my spouse or those younger than me with words, but slow to sit beside them and lend a hand.
This week, replace one lecture with one practical act of help. Sit beside your child while they do their homework. Stand beside your spouse as they wash up and help dry a dish or two.
“The Lord has carried my burdens. Now I, too, can reach out my hand to help carry someone else’s.”
Prayer
Lord who took the lower place,
Even today, we have been walking around the chairs. We have loved the attention of others, longed for our names to be mentioned first, and placed burdens on other people’s shoulders without lifting a finger to help. We confess that Your Word has been on our lips, but absent from our hands and feet.
Yet You rose from the highest place to wash our feet. And on the cross, You took upon Yourself the humiliation that we, who sought to exalt ourselves, deserved to bear. Thank You that, when God exalted You, You also gave us, though undeserving, a place beside You.
Holy Spirit, help us in our weakness and intercede for us with groanings too deep for words. Throughout this coming week, help us to serve unseen, to give others the credit, and to offer a helping hand instead of a lecture. Yet not as we will, but as our Father wills.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who even now sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
Amen.