Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
In the ancient world, a ransom was money paid to purchase, then set free, a slave. “Ransom” appears twice in the New Testament when Jesus gave His reason for coming to earth: He came “to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). That is, He purchased with His own life those who were slaves to sin and set them free to live a new life. What’s interesting about the ransom Jesus paid is what that payment is connected to: service. Jesus said He came to serve by giving His life a ransom for many. Jesus’ own life and actions illustrate that there is a price to service. In Jesus’ case, the price was extremely high. We may never be called on to serve others by dying for them physically, but we are called on daily to serve others by dying to our selfish desires. When Paul wrote about Christ as a servant, he wrote, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”—that is, the mind of a servant (Philippians 2:5). Be prepared today to pay whatever price Christ-like service requires.
[Be] willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God.
Dallas Willard once advised Christians to serve the Lord with a certain amount of secrecy—not in deceit but for the purpose of intentionally wanting God to bring our hunger for fame and recognition under control. It’s unhealthy when we want all our good deeds to be known. As we serve others, we are serving God. But if we’re eager for everyone to know how well we’ve served, how humbly we’ve helped, or how hard we’ve worked, our motivations are questionable. True humility serves quietly and finds satisfaction in serving as Jesus did. Perhaps even today, an occasion will arise for serving someone as a member of God’s Secret Service.
