Clean heart, right spirit – The story of the millipede
Peter, Paul, James and Jude all had something in common
They were all leaders who served with a clean heart and right spirit
What does that mean?
Glad you asked
The Bible calls them, Bondservants
Hold the phone
Did you just say, BOND Servant?
No, no, no
It’s not a 007 status
Let’s just take a breath for a moment here
A Bondservant isn’t about you driving around in an Aston Martin like Daniel Craig
A Bondservant is a person who’s faithful and loyal in their serving
Oh, that’s a shame…
(Cancel the car)
Faithful servants, who not only lead people
But served with a clean heart and right spirit
Let me explain…
THE STORY OF THE MILLIPEDE
The other morning, I was filling the kettle up with water for my morning cup of tea
(Hey, I’m English, it’s a given)
When I saw a millipede crawling along my fly screen
I watched, fascinated by all its legs moving in sync with one another
Then I wondered, (as I often do, at 6.00am in the morning)
What if that little millipede’s legs didn’t move along together?
What if some legs decided they weren’t going to cooperate any longer with the other legs?
What would happen then?
I’ll tell you what would happen
That poor little millipede wouldn’t be going anywhere
He’d be stuck, unable to move
Each one of the millipede’s leg was as important as the others
When each leg served faithful and loyal to the millipede
Like a Bondservant (faithful and loyal) to the head of the millipede
The same head that has the eyes to see exactly which direction the legs should be going in
The millipede could move forward
CLEAN HEART, RIGHT SPIRIT
Jesus is the Head
And we are the body of believers, who serve Him
He wants you to keep moving forward
But Jesus doesn’t just want 100 legs marching along like brain -dead zombies
He wants you to serve others because you love Him
God sees your faithfulness in serving, which is something you get the privilege to do
But being loyal, well that’s more about character
Serving is what you get to do
Being loyal through serving is more about who you truly are
Bondservants, like Peter, Paul, James and Jude
They’re the real deal
Leaders are servers
And when people see believers serving with a clean heart and right spirit
They see that their motives are right
Which attracts them to serve too
They see your character hasn’t become tainted with the glory of a title or a position
People see your heart
And that’s the whole point
Satan started out by serving God
But his heart became tainted with the lust for power
And…
…Well, we all know how that turned out
That’s why he hates Bondservants
The people who serve with a clean heart and right spirit
Because he can’t derail them with a taste for titles, status and power
Bondservants who serve with a clean heart and a right spirit
Are like magnets, attracting other people to Jesus
Because they’re the real deal
And that my friend, is worth seeking out and holding onto
Wendy xo