I'm First: Jesus Series

   Mark 10:31 "The first will be last and the last first."

   One day I was with my students and they were getting in line. My students were running and shoving to be first. There interesting thing was we had just had a bible lesson about serving and showing love to others. I walked out and I said, "why are you shoving and running to get in line." One child said, "I'm hungry and I wanted to get to lunch first." I then quoted this verse. I said, "Jesus said, 'the first will be last and the last first.'"

   Now, you can picture the children's confusion about this. Some adults are even confused by this. If you are in last place in a race, how can you come in first? If you have ever seen the movie Cars it's almost like, how will turning right get you to go left? It's the opposite, how can you win?

   If you think about it from the world's standards then it doesn't make sense. But, in God's standard it does. Think about Jesus. He is the Son of God. He was there at the beginning of the universe. He is so great that he should be first for everything right? Wrong, at least in his eyes. Jesus didn't come to show how great he was. He came to serve. Most kings, leaders, and fake gods expect to be served. Jesus was different. Many times Jesus was tired and wanted to rest but crowds would come and, instead of sending them away, he would preach. He would change his plans to go heal someone who was sick. And, he showed us that he is the ultimate servant by taking our sins and being sacrifice.

   If this world was all that there was then being first may have some merit. But, we know that this isn't the end when we die on earth. Anything we earn here is temporary. The only things that truly matter are our souls. We are called to serve others so that many will be saved. By putting others first we will show them the love of God.

   In the movie Cars that I talked about earlier there's a hotshot new racer named Lightning McQueen. He is all about winning until a series of events change his perspective. Just as he is about win the Piston Cup (championship trophy) he stops right before the finish line. It didn't make sense to me when I was a little child. I wanted him to win. Instead he went back to help an older race car, who crashed, cross the finish line because it was his last race. Lightning understood that that trophy wasn't important in the long run. Serving others and showing them love is.

   So, do you only think about yourself? Do you serve others and put them first? How can you put someone else first today?

   Image from here.