You'd Have Never Guessed!

(This reading is based on on Proverbs 11 and is read in accordance with the Revived by His Word initiative of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.)

"Better is the one who is slighted but has a servant, than he who honors himself but lacks bread." Prov 12: 9

As he walked into the room I instantly recognized him; I had met him at a function a few months earlier. No one else in the room apparently recognized however, including the police officer who was manning the front desk of the police station. (You see, we were mostly there to each have a police record processed. I had come with a group from the University that was seeking to get a visa for a promotional trip to the Cayman Islands - this was just one of the steps in that process.) It was only as the gentleman wrote his name that the police officer exclaimed, "I wouldn't have known who you were, if you hadn't written your name."

 

This man was the owner of a very successful fast food chain across the Caribbean. But looking at his plain attire, the simple telephone he sported, and his overall unassuming manner, you'd have never picked him as the likely owner of such a successful brand. So, no surprise, as soon as the officer discovered who this gentleman was, the red carpet was rolled, and although we had arrived before him he was the first one to be processed when the office opened for business. Ordinarily I'd have found that preferential treatment most objectionable, but this gentleman had sponsored a programme staged by an outreach unit of the University in that parish (he had been the keynote speaker a ceremony we held to close out that programme.) I'd have volunteered to let him go ahead of me anyway.

It was interesting to note that earlier in the morning the police officer, a student of another university, had engaged us in a series of discussions ranging from ills of television watching, to local politics, to world events. Although I didn't think we had gotten to the point of feeling smug, and deserving of special favours, based on our conversation with the officer, we might have. But what a rude demotion we would have had when the gentleman walked in.

As Christians living in a sinful world, we ought not to be ostentatious, but should exude a humble demeanor of servitude, which may sometimes mean that we will get slighted. But here's who Christians really are: we have an all powerful God who assures us that, "And whatever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, (John 14: 13). That sounds like a "servant" talking to me (mind you conditions apply). And what's more, in Jesus we actually have a combo: not only is He our omnipotent "Servant," but He's also our "Bread of life," (John 6: 48).

To read and/or listen to Proverbs 11 and to read other related blogs, please click here.