Today, I was reading in Matthew 20 where the mother of James and John was asking Jesus if her sons could sit at his right hand and left hand in his kingdom. First of all, I really appreciate Momma still looking after her grown sons, but that's not what I was focussing on as I read.
It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,
Matthew 20:26 (NET)
The Greek word translated servant here is diakonos is probably the word from which we derive the word deacon. Looking at the definition on blueletterbible.org, I'm struck by a couple of things in the definition. Under "Root Word (Etymology)," I read "Probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands...)" Being a servant means running errands! Wow, I've really been being a servant lately. Taking the honey to the doctor. Taking one of the kiddos to get some new clothes. Sometimes it seems that my life is just one errand after another - not enough "me" time. I must remember that this is part of being a servant. Back to the definition again, under "Outline of Biblical Usage," I'm struck by a few things. Diakonos also refers to "a waiter, one who serves food and drink." Add "short order cook" to that and it sounds like another significant chunk of my life. Working my way up the sub-definitions, I come to "a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use." Ok, not really me - perhaps there is more that I should be doing in this regard. Another usage is "the servant of a king." I definitely want to be a servant of The King And as I look over my life and the different aspects of what diakonos means, I realize that even in the drudgery of my everyday life, I am being a servant.
Heavenly Father, I want to serve You with my life. Thank You that You are giving me ample opportunity to be a servant. Help me to be joyful as I do it. Amen.
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