Fill In the Blank

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”—James 1:1

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James…”—Jude 1:1

These brothers, like Jesus, were borne by Mary.  They all grew up under the same roof and smelled the same wood shavings from Joseph’s shop. If it had been us, wouldn’t we have been dying to make that point in our writings so we could win friends and influence people?

And yet somewhere along the way, through the sibling rivalries, animated dinner conversations, and the years of finding it hard to believe that their brother really was this guy who the prophets of old wrote about—even if He did love going to church—something powerful must have happened that changed everything and sparked these introductory words.  Quite possibly, it was this:

They watched how He lived, and found His actions matched the words on His resume. If this was what life to the full was about, they wanted in.

Sometimes, in skimming over the greetings and introductions of the Gospels and the various letters to the churches so we can get to the “good part” of what the Bible says about us, we miss the good part.

Lord, help us to remember that it is one thing to be known as someone who says all the right Jesus words and is a good church-goer, but that the only resume that really shines through is what flows through our hands and feet in the daily grind—and especially, our attitude toward life and others. Imperfect? No doubt. But since it's Your light doing the shining, and You say 'Go!," we say once more, '________, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.'"