John 12:26

“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honor.”

            In the ESV this verse says, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” Even though the two texts are pretty similar, there is one word in the ESV that I like more, the word “must.” Instead of let it is must. If we are to serve Jesus, then we must follow Him, that doesn’t leave any room for suggestion. By serving and following the Lord, God will honor us. We should want God to honor us, and we should want to follow Jesus in all we do. In order to serve Jesus, we have to be a follower of Him, only then can He use us to our fullest extent through Him.

I know for myself, I sometimes think I’m serving God, but in all reality I’m doing something for myself. I am not following God’s lead and serving Him in even the smallest of tasks. I forget that everything we do should be for the glory of the Lord and not for our own selfish desires. Wherever Christ is, I should be right behind, serving Him in all I do and staying on the perfect path He has for me. Unfortunately, I am still fleshly and human and I can’t always do this, but this is where I repent and am so thankful for Gods mercy and grace on me no matter how many times I mess up. God wants us to serve Him, so He can bless us and give us more of Him, we just have to be willing to fully deny our flesh in order to follow Him. My application for this week is to memorize this verse and write it down in my journal so that I can remember to serve God in all I do.