Philippians 2:5 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
When was the last time you had an attitude check? This week I have been thinking about the many years that Jesus spent in obscurity, during which His work appeared to be pointless and His power seemed to be squandered for what appeared to be of little significance. It is really important to see how Jesus dealt with the ordinary.
Jesus placed His faith in His father and responded to His direction through the Spirit no matter how mundane or insignificant His action seemed at the time. Isaiah shows us the result of an attitude of obedience even in the most commonplace of situations.
Isaiah 49:5-6 “And now the Lord says – he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength – he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Was it indeed worth it? Ask any person who has been forgiven for their sins. Ask any saint who has been graced and who has a proper relationship with God as a result of Jesus what they think about the situation.
We are exhorted in the book of Philippians to adopt the same attitude as Christ. Jesus was always obedient to the Father, even when He had to withhold His privileges as God and take upon Himself the limitations of humanity. This was true even while He was performing commonplace tasks that appeared to be so pointless.
How do you deal with the everyday occurrences that occur in your life? What we tend to adore is the outwardly impressive part of life. The moments of success and victory are what we come to live for. However, the reality is that we frequently fail to recognise the miraculous hidden in the mundane.
Jesus would never have been able to achieve the glory of being exalted to the place of highest honour if he had not been faithful in the ordinary times of His life. The Apostle Paul said it best:
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”