I’ve finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. You might think it’s a little too late for such a discovery since I’m dangerously close to 40. Besides that, returning to college would strain both my tight schedule and my even tighter monthly budget. Nevertheless, I am determined to pursue this course of action whether or not it makes sense to anyone else.
Thankfully, my dream job requires no education or previous experience. I won’t even have to send out resumes or answer interview questions. I can begin work immediately while still carrying on my current responsibilities as wife, mother, and home school teacher. While I don’t expect to receive a single paycheck, the benefits package is second to none. Best of all, I already know my Employer. He knows my strengths and weaknesses, He equips me for service, and He enables me to grow in my position as long as I am willing.
So, what do I want to be? A bondservant. Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, I’m sure.
Bondservant
Did you know that Paul, Timothy, James, Jude and Peter were all self-proclaimed bondservants? (Philippians 1:1, James 1:1, Jude 1:1, and 2 Peter 1:1). Paul elaborates on the position, stating that as a bondservant he does not preach or uplift himself but Jesus only (2 Corinthians 4:5). In another letter, he boldly asserts that if his goal was to please men then he would not be a bondservant of Christ (Galatians 1:10). Clearly, this bondservant business is all about putting God before my own goals, desires or personal reputation.
According to the New American Standard New Testament Greek Lexicon, a bondservant literally refers to a slave or person of servile condition, but it is the metaphorical meanings that focus my new career goals. A bondservant is “one who gives himself up to another’s will,” “those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing His cause among men,” and one who is “devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests.”1 The role of a bondservant sounds good on paper, but I know that it will require a level of humility and unselfishness that is completely counter-culture to this world.
Still, I aspire to be a bondservant. As I focus on Jesus, the ways of this world will hold less and less appeal, and I will desire only to be more and more like Him. After all, Jesus was a bondservant too, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Jesus, please help me to be more like you in all things, particularly in selfless and humble obedience to my heavenly Father.
