November 14

Nov 14 - Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 35
"A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant incurs his wrath."

There are two levels of thought here, but only one principle. There is the level of the temporal - that which is seen, and the level of the eternal - that which is unseen. The principle is that of servant hood.
When we consider ourselves servants, our focus should turn to duty rather than to wages and promotion. A wise employee (servant), seeks first to fully understand what his duty is in the position he is to fill. The employee is then expected to commit himself to fulfill that duty to the best of his ability. The employee committed to integrity in his service will seek to further his understanding and increase his skills in performing his duty. Such an employee will certainly delight his employer, and will serve as an asset to the organization. A good employer will recognize the integrity and excellence of the service of the employee and will hold fast to all employment agreements. The employer may even choose to reward the employee's excellence. The employee has no right to expect such reward - he was merely fulfilling the duty for which he was employed. Anything he receives beyond the employment agreement is grace.
In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus gives the illustration of a servant who worked hard in the fields all day and returns to the master's house. Jesus then queries his disciples, asking them if they thought the master might say to the servant "Come along now and sit down to eat." Preposterous! The thought would never enter the disciples' minds. Any person in the Middle East in that day would never expect such a thing. Instead the master would tell the servant to prepare the meal, clean up, and then serve the master's meal. That was the fully expected duty of the servant. There would be no debt of gratitude on the master's behalf simply because the servant was carrying out his duty. Jesus closes with this statement to His disciples;
"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ''We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
There is no implication that there was a love relationship between the master and servant in the illustration. The servant fulfilled his duty because it was expected of him. The master provided all of the servant's needs because it was expected of him. But, we are in a love relationship with our Master. We serve Him because He is worthy. We discovered that He loves us, He redeemed us at the cost of His own shed blood, and He offers us sonship in His own family. Our duty then is to worship Him alone, and to serve our fellow man. Wisdom has taught us that this is our purpose. Even though God loves us, He owes no man a debt of gratitude when man performs his duty. In our relationship with God we are to serve out of duty, not out of expectations of reward for our good works. God has promised to provide our needs, anything we receive from Him beyond that is grace - and He gives abundantly.
There is incredible freedom in being a servant and in understanding our duty. Discouragement comes by way of unmet expectations. When we perform our duties with expectations of reward, we can get discouraged. When we perform our duties to the best of our ability out of gratitude to our Master, we find fulfillment. A true servant lives in contentment because he understands that the Master will provide for the task. I struggle to reach the day when I can consistently say along with the Apostle Paul:
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13