Devotional Guide, Today’s Reading – Thursday, July 29, 2021

Theme: THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM

Text: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28.

Comment: Jesus Christ taught us the importance of self-sacrifice for the good of others. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9. See also John 15:13, 14) As the Good Shepherd, he gave his life for the sheep. (John 10:11) The lesson taught us by Christ is that the position of leadership should be reserved for the person “who is prepared to live for others and if possible, die for them”. Those who are leading the sheep of God must therefore ensure they put their personal interests and pleasures aside for the interest of God’s work. Those who see leadership position in the work of God as their personal property or even their birthright which they must hold on to, no matter the odds, have personal interests of money, power and influence and not the interests of the work of God. Such ones scatter and not build because they create a cult of cronies and praise singers who are out for their own benefits. St. Peter’s admonished: “The elders which are among you I exhort, …Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. – 1 Peter 5:1-3.