In the Christian world, we have often heard the word “servant.� But what does this word mean and when applied to our lives, what does it look like? As a child, the word always brought to mind a picture of high society where the servant would follow the master around throughout his day. To me, the idea of a servant was not appealing. I equated myself being a servant to wearing a very uncomfortable stuffy uniform, in which I had to stand perfectly straight while following around my master picking up after his laziness. The idea of just mindlessly following someone else around their world, cleaning up their messes, picking up their garbage, washing, pressing and folding their soiled Mens Clothing, and being at their beck and call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week wasn’t appealing. In my mind, the bottom line was that if I chose to be a servant, what I was really choosing was to eliminate my ability to make my own choices and release my individuality. Then I came across one of many people in the Bible that have made things clearer for me, the apostle Paul. There is something in his letters you may have missed, something that I had missed for many years–the greeting. Most of his letters begin the same way, “Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.� But in Romans and Philippians, there is a slight but significant change. There he begins, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.� As I revisited the thought, I discovered what being a servant, as Paul is claiming to be, actually does. I found that the Greek meaning of this word “servant� had nothing to do with my misconceptions. The meaning is actually two fold: (1) a “slave,� who completely belongs to his owner and has no freedom to leave, and (2) a “servant,� who willing chooses to serve his master. This completely changed my view of servanthood. I recalled how the Word says we are not our own and that we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). And as Christ himself portrayed in many of His parables, there are always going to be good and bad servants. To truly serve Christ is a choice and one that we must make on a daily basis. As the second part of the definition states, Paul is proclaiming that his position is one of willingness to serve Christ as his master in the appointed position of apostleship. No matter the circumstances, Paul is declaring where his loyalty lies. I have prayed that I would adopt this meaning of servant many times in my life. Earlier, I told you that my idea of a servant was someone who followed his master around all day, and I did not like that idea. I realize now that is exactly what I want to be–a servant who follows his Lord and Savior all day, every day. Ask yourself, am I choosing every day to serve and follow Christ, or am I allowing my loyalties to be divided between this world and Christ? Make a clear distinction in your heart today which one can truly offer you more in life, and know that the world will let you down every time. Final Thought: Mathew 6:24 – No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.