Unprofitable Servant

I talk a lot about humility on this blog. I mention often how I am your humble RT. In that sense I do not place myself above anyone else. I am no better than any of my peers. I may be more famous due to my blog, but I am no better than anyone else.

Humility is important. It's important because, I think, as humans, we must be humble to our position here on earth. We must be aware that we are all just little blimps on a large planet, and what we do, no matter how great, no matter how powerful, or no matter how small, is just fulfilling our role.

That's right. We all have a role on this planet. We all have a duty. We all have a task we are to accomplish. And there is not one role that is greater than any other. In that sense, we are all equals.

President Obama, for example, and George W. Bush may be more famous, yet they are no more valuable to human kind than you or I. We are all equals in that sense. We are, as the Bible explains (Luke 17:7-10) in "The Parable of Jesus," we are all unprofitable servants.

Defined, unprofitable servant means that we do what is expected of us and nothing more. We all have a task that we are to accomplish, and we accomplish it, and then we are done. In that sense, we are unprofitable. This is a means for us to keep things in proper perspective: to be humble.

We pray. We are given gifts in life (for example I was given the gift of writing), and we need to use our gift to help our fellow humans (as I'm here blogging to you).

The neat thing is God does not answer all prayers, nor does he heal all the sick. He answers some prayers, and he heals some of the sick, but never all. Yet he does heal everyone spiritually.

He heals spiritually by allowing us to be in Heaven if we are good in this life. No matter how much we suffer, we are given that great reward. That's the best gift of all. That's the best healing power. In that regard, there is nothing we can accomplish on earth more profitable than that. We are, therefore, unprofitable.

Yet there are other gifts, or healings, that are less valuable, such as property and material things like money and other riches and communication skills, math skill, wisdom about asthma and writing skills, the Internet. These are gifts we are given so we can make the world better -- but never better than how Jesus left it when he ascended into Heaven.

Not all who are prophets are rich, or healthy all the time, or are healed when they pray for healing. Some of the best and greatest prophets of the Lord, some of the greatest and most useful people on this planet, have nothing at all but spiritual gifts. They live in poverty.

Most humans are unprofitable servants. That means we do what is expected of us and nothing more. The Lord gives us each an assignment, and it is up to us to accomplish the goals He sets out for us. Which basically means we do what is expected of us.

All the good we do as RTs and RNs and DRs or simple human beings, no matter how good, will never be as good as what Jesus did for us. Therefore, we are not profitable. We are servants. We are not masters.

In this sense, we are humbled. And we use our gifts to make this world a better place, each in our own humble way.