The other day, I was thinking about how so many in our world have a feeling of being entitled to what they have and what they want. I know many people who want something for nothing. Others think the world revolves around them and cannot understand it when other people don’t see that.
Bill Hybels, teaching on Proverbs, said that if you want to be a leader in your organization, you must add value. It’s not who you are or how many years you’ve managed to hang around. It’s how diligently and honestly you work. How many sales have you made? How have you organized your area? How much more responsibility can be entrusted to you?
Jesus’ friends James and John were about to go on to do great things. From what I can glean from the Scriptures, they were not poor fishermen–a picture often foisted upon us. Yes, they owned a fishing business. But they also were tapped into Jewish leadership. I think they revealed an entitlement mindset when they approached Jesus and asked about sitting on his right and left hand in the kingdom.
At that time, they really didn’t comprehend what the kingdom was. Then on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took off his outer clothes, put a towel around his waist and washed the feet of his friends. It was a scene of great humility. The room must have become eerily silent.
Here was the most entitled of all humans performing the work of a servant. This is the example. Go and do likewise.
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