Faithbase

Hey, faith-based friends and family, blessings to you today. Today I want to share something that Paul said. He says this in 1st Corinthians 4 1, he says, this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. If you're familiar with the New Testament, you know Paul refers to himself as a servant a lot. And normally it's one of two different Greek words, but here in 1st Corinthians 4 1, he uses a very unusual word, and it's unlike anything else he's called himself. And the word that we would use in English is under rower. So visualize one of those large wooden ships. It'd be first century. Under rower, the person under the deck, rowing the oars. Do you have that image in your mind? This is how Paul said you should think of him and consider him. Isn't that incredible? As someone under the deck rowing. What that means is that he's not the captain. There is a captain who is Jesus, and he simply listens to what the captain says, and he does what the captain asks him to do, and he he's most effective. His contributions, his impact, are the greatest when he's rowing in unity and harmony with those others rowing with him. What a challenge for us, right, as we serve together in unity and harmony. What a great image and reminder. We have a great captain. If this is Paul, he's speaking of the rights of an apostle. As an apostle, this is how we should be considered. Boy, how much more should we be considered under rowers. I think sometimes we we adopt too many ideas of leadership from secular culture, and I think this is probably maybe the best imagery I can imagine, as under rowers, as Christian leaders. So I encourage you, let's just remember our place as servants. We get to be stewards of the mystery. We get to steward everything we've been entrusted with, from even our thoughts and our emotions, our bodies, our children. We get to steward it to the Lord. But let's remember that as we're simply listening for the captain's voice, we're not... it's not about receiving credit. It's not about being up front or having a platform. It's about hearing the captain's voice and obeying. Let's just be convinced and just rest in the truth that his voice is loving and kind and tender, and he has our best interest at heart. Even his commands, they're to reveal our need for a Savior, but also to protect us from the consequences of sin. So he has our best interest. We've got a good, good captain. Blessings to you as we continue to live out life as under rowers, realizing it's a privilege to be called this and that we're dearly loved. The Lord encourage you and refresh you today. Have a great day.