Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'”

This section, from verse seven, runs directly counter to current American culture. Americans are all about entitlement! That someone would come in from a long day of outside work and then be expected to wait on their employer before they got any refreshment themselves would be seen as cruel and unusual, but it was the order of the day back then. Everyone today wants to be patted on the head and told what a good job they’ve done, and then get at least a participation trophy. Jesus was having none of that. This verse is a stern re­minder to every believer, since we are all supposed to be serving God. We don’t like the idea of “duty,” the idea of something that it is our place to do whether we like it or not. That was big in Victorian England, and Gilbert and Sullivan made fun of it in several of their comedy operettas. However, it’s actually no laughing matter. How many people can actually say they’ve done everything God told them to do, much less gone above and beyond? God is incredibly gracious, and will indeed reward everything we do for Him, (Ephesians 6:8) but if our focus is on the reward rather than obedience, we have misplaced priorities. We need to serve God because He is more than worthy of everything we could do for or give to Him, since He is the One who enables it all in the first place. It is only when we grasp that that we can understand His grace, which is poured out so freely.

I have meditated on this verse multiple times in the past, and I always come to the conclusion that I have absolutely no room to complain about anything. I certainly can’t claim to have done everything God has told me to do! I’ve had people seem very impressed with me because I’m a “real live missionary,” but what’s unusual about living and serving in the land where I was born? I have sought to be obedient, but I know I’ve missed various cues along the way, not to mention getting lazy and/or giving up multiple times. My highest goal is to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Matthew 25:21) but I hardly think I’ve earned it, since I haven’t even done everything I was told. I am sharply aware of my own inadequacies, but I am even more aware of God’s grace and love. He has told me to rest, relax, and rejoice, and failing to do so would be disobedience!

Father, thank You for all You’ve enabled me to do in recent days, and that today’s schedule is open. Help me not waste this day but spend it as You desire of me, whether that be in activity or rest, so that Your purposes may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!