Doing Our Duty
“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” (Luke 17:10)
Sometimes people will come up to me and express their appreciation for what I do. I thank them for doing so, but I also tell them, “You know, I am just doing my duty. I don’t deserve extra credit or special applause. I am just doing what I am supposed to do as a Christian, because one day, we will stand before God and will be held accountable for how faithful we were with what God gave us.”
Jesus gave an example of a man whose hired servants did their work as expected. Jesus asked, “Does [the man] thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’ ” (Luke 17:9–10).
We were like slaves in the open market, and then Jesus came along, saw us on the auction block, and paid the full price. Now we are His servants. He owns us. The Bible says, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
We are the purchased property of Jesus Christ. Hence we become bondservant. The apostle Paul called himself a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:1). A bondservant was someone who was purchased, but later went on to voluntarily serve his master. He did it because he wanted to, not because he had to.
Everything we have belongs to God. Our families belong to God. Our careers belong to God. Our possessions belong to God. Everything is His. And we want to make sure that we remember that in all that we say and do.
Summary sentence: We are the purchased property of Jesus Christ!
Tags: duty, bondservant, accountable
Copyright © 2012 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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