by Zach Roll

True greatness.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link

“And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you discussing on the way?’ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ‘If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.'”
Mark 9:33-35 English Standard Version

Basketball was my passion in high school. It is the only sport I played all four years. I went to all the camps in the summer, all the open gyms during the school year, and I played over holiday breaks. I did those things because basketball was fun. What I didn’t do, however, was all the extra work that I didn’t deem to be fun…like going to the weight room at 6 in the morning, feeding my body with the right nutritional foods to stay healthy, and being more useful to the team. I didn’t think I was a bad teammate. I loved everyone on my team, yet I was unwilling to do the behind the scenes work that nobody notices. That’s where you sacrifice your comfortable free time for the sake of your teammates, coming alongside them, encouraging them, and struggling with them.

Honestly this is still something that I struggle with. I enjoy comfort. I would imagine that all of us enjoy being comfortable, but we are called to be uncomfortable as well.

Comfort is not a bad thing in, and of, itself. In fact it is a good gift from God, but like most good gifts we receive from our Father in heaven we all too easily abuse them. Jesus Christ and his death on the cross was more than a demonstration of love, it accomplished the forgiveness of our sins. Death on the cross was a shameful way to die, and Jesus endured that on our behalf.

May we serve our neighbors in love, and humility, thinking of ourselves last, even when it means sacrificing the comforts of life.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO