Learning to Come Out Even

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. -Matthew 20:26

I recall when I was a seminary student my wife and I became friends with a wonderful couple who were originally from the Deep South. On several occasions they invited us into their home and treated us to some delicious southern-style cooking. After the meal they would serve some sort of rich cake topped off with liberal helpings of chocolate or strawberry ice cream. Early on they quickly introduced us to the dessert ritual of “coming out even.” Our friends, as they enjoyed their own dessert, would watch to see how we were progressing with ours. When it became evident that we might end up with a few bites of cake, but no ice cream, they would remedy this undesirable situation by hurriedly fetching the container and scoop out some more into our bowls. This was done that we might “come out even.” The same thing would happen if we had some ice cream left but no more cake. Our hosts would inquire if we were coming out even and then deposit into our bowls another helping. For our friends it was important that we finish these things evenly. Of course, taken to its logical conclusion one could eat cake and ice cream indefinitely. But that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? All the dessert you could want, served by kind people who are eager to keep it coming.

Maintaining a healthy balance between allowing others to serve us and being servants is vital to happiness and spiritual well being. Gratification is found in both scenarios, but we must be careful to “come out even” in these areas. What motivated our friends to keep our bowls full and make sure that we had plenty to eat? Our friends were motivated by the pure joy of serving others.

The ultimate expression of our devotion to the Lord Jesus is to serve Him. We accomplish this by becoming servants to those around us. Remarkable blessings are discovered when we take this concept with us throughout our daily lives.

(From, "The Invitation: Embracing a Happier Life," by Dan Birchfield, copyright 2009)