IBS Luke 17:7 (3-3-14)

Inductive Bible Study Method for Luke 17:7 (3-3-14)

“”And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?””

In this verse, Jesus is asking the disciples whether a master will relieve the servant of his duties before the servant’s time is up. In the right context, servanthood is either something a person is born into or entered into by choice. Either way, there is supposed to be an end to it, and sorry to be obvious, but it doesn’t end until it ends. It is silly to suppose that a master would cut a time of serving short, when the servant is fully capable of finishing it out. 

We all know that God doesn’t have grand-children - no one is born as a bond-servant to Christ. Every believer has made a conscious choice to serve God, and we are to love Him with all of our beings. Hebrews 12:1 says “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...” The race is this life - we are to have endurance because there is no resting time. Yes, we sleep and have times of relaxation, but we are never on a break from serving God or being a witness of Him.

Plowing the field. Tending the sheep. Running the race. These are all strenuous tasks that require energy, effort, and endurance. I get tired. I get sick. Sometimes, I plain just don’t feel like doing anything. I’m sitting here, typing this IBS, feeling overwhelmed by the fact that it seems like I could never live up to this requirement of constantly serving God. The point to all of this is that I can’t do anything in my own strength. How foolish to think that I could do anything good in and of myself. I’m going to write “His Strength” on my wrist to remind me that I need to constantly serve Him and run the race with endurance - but not in my own strength, in His.