Explaining the Title (Part One: "Servant")

I've titled this blog "A Wise Servant" not out of any self-important delusion, but truly more of a desire to become that person.  I take it from Proverbs 17:2, which I read in The Message version the other day:

A wise servant takes charge of an unruly child
and is honored as one of the family.

My initial reaction was, "Hey! That's me!"

I serve as a nanny and babysitter for multiple families in Tallahassee, and have developed relationships with many of them through my efforts to support parents in guiding their children.  But tonight, I realized that - as is with many things in the Bible - it goes deeper than that.

I am a Christian, and not simply nominally.  I wasn't a Christian at birth, and it took more than a prayer to make me a Christian.  Actually, I thought of myself as a Christian for over eight years before I realized there really wasn't anything about my life that made me different from anyone else who didn't care an iota about God.  (The problem there being that God's presence in a person's life effects some pretty radical change. The lack thereof implies an absence of God.)

This is not to claim myself more valuable than any other person on this planet.  But it is to make very clear the foundation of my life, as it is today.  The God of Whom Jesus spoke is very much the same God who created me, and He calls the shots in my life.  Even when I want something otherwise.

That makes me His servant.  I am not a mindless slave - because I have free will - but I do choose to serve Him.  He's a good God - too good, really - and in subjecting my life to His lead, I have found peace like I just can't describe to someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand.  (And if you're someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand - I recommend seeking that out.)

Being obedient to God doesn't feel like some restrictive set of regulations.  And it's not about appearances, either.  Obeying Him has actually been quite the natural response to loving Him, believe it or not.  I know He's good - I know He loves me - I know He's asked me to live a certain way or do certain things because they're truly the best route - and obedience is that outward display of love and trust.  It's like buying roses for God.  (Except, He can make His own roses. He won't make me do what He wants me to do.  So obedience is about the best love offering I've got.)

I think it's hard for a lot of people to comfortably wrap their head around the idea of obedience or submission as being anything but distasteful, largely because we've all had so many scarring experiences with bad leadership - teachers, supervisors, and even parents have made the concept of "authority" something to be disdained.

But God is not those people.