Tuesday was strawberry picking. I love strawberries, but I dread having to strain my back in the sun for a few hours to get around 50 pounds of strawberries. especially when mom makes these plans on days when I had other ideas for how to spend my day.
In fact, it was starting to feel like just about everything my parents planned for me to do this summer happened to conflict with almost everything else I wanted to do. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but in short, I've been having a hard time joyfully serving my family this summer.
In preparation for a short-term missions trip I'm taking to Alaska in a couple weeks, I've been working through a devotional put together by Delta Ministries, that gives a short and sweet passage to study each day and place to pray. Last Friday, they had me open to 2 Corinthians and I read:
"For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake."2 Corinthians 4:5
It all clicked! The reason I serve my mom is yes, because God commands it in other places in Scripture, but it's more than just a command. I serve my mom in response to the gospel!
The gospel that I'm trying to speak and live isn't about Lauren at all. I am trying to speak and live a gospel about a glorious God, a glorious Savior. I want people to see and know that Jesus Christ is Lord, not that I'm anything amazing. What this means for me in everyday life is that I serve people. I serve people for Jesus' sake. I serve my church by wiping counters for Jesus's sake. I serve my mom by picking her strawberries, not because it's fun, but for Jesus' sake.
If we believe the gospel and want to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, we must be willing to be made low in order that people will see the Savior we serve. So it's really okay if my mom decides to enlist my help picking strawberries, canning beans, or cleaning out the cupboards during the times when I could be out enjoying myself, because when I'm serving that's when I best proclaim the gospel.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."John 3:30
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