In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to recognize the fact that they are, and will always remain, servants of Almighty God. I am not sure about you, but I know that such a thought, albeit reality, seems to go against what I would like for myself. I want to be in charge, at least once in a while, and when my work is done for the day or for my life, I would like a little recognition that the job was at least satisfactory. To envision myself always and everywhere as a servant is a bit unsettling. My time and effort will not be my own, but dictated or at least guided by someone else. I am, however, talking about God after all! Not a boss or slave master. And surely not anyone created in my image and likeness; fickle, inconsistent, not always fair and just! God is the one I am called to serve constantly and consistently. God, who knows me better than I will ever know myself this side of Eternity. God, who calls me into life, and calls me everyday by name. God, who welcomes sinners and not only dines with them, but feeds them the finest of wheat. God, who will ask me to do nothing for him that does not bring me to life, and certainly will not require of me something that he has not already given me the ability to accomplish. God, who is patient and waits for me to smarten up and hand him the reins, not to shirk the right responsibility of my life, but to ensure that I am not demanding too much of myself and others. To be a servant of God, humble and obedient, may not be all that bad after all. When I let God into my life and see myself as the child I really am to him, then God can finally do something with me. Unless I surrender my own will, an act of great control and responsibility in itself, I will never be able to know fully the life that has been already prepared for me. Service of God is never slavery or demeaning in anyway, for that is against the very nature of the God whom we are to serve. So why do I hesitate in throwing myself onto his mercy and let God be god in my life? Everything that I have, and everything that I have become thus far in my brief existence is all gift from God. So why do I feel that I need to continue to set the parameters within which God can and will love me and bring me deeper into his life? Mid-life crises, endless blaming of parents and others for our present situations, lack of maturity and general discomfort with the way life treats us, are all indications of the mere fact that most of us spend our lives seeking meaning in the things that we try to control and create. We have become the center of our own universes and demand too often of others that they respond to our needs before any other. We basically strive to become our own creation, and might, just might, ask God to be present in the midst of it all. What amount of energy do we waste in pursuit of something that was never ours to take on for ourselves? The task of our life is not to seek meaning for who we are, but rather to seek the meaning of God in our lives and see ourselves for who we are, and always will be: servants of so loving a Master. No amount of struggling against reality will bring us more peace than this fact alone. Jesus knew it for himself. May we come to see it for ourselves, too, and find true freedom and real meaning in all that we accomplish - for God - and him alone!

© 2005 Peter J. Andrews