Isaiah 53:4-6; 10 – Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

THEME OF THE DAY: THE ONLY PATH TO FRUITFULNESS. Every Christian wants to serve the Lord Jesus and leave an imprint of His Presence everywhere they go and upon everyone they encounter. However, not every Christian is willing to pay the cost to do so. Many Christians are eager to be used and bear fruit for the Lord, but few are willing to go through the only path do so. There is a reason why the Lord Jesus tells us to “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). The path to being a fruitful servant of the Lord in His harvest involves taking up a cross daily (willingness to suffer), denying oneself (refuse to be self-centered), and following Him (radical obedience to His Word). These are the three necessary elements for a life of fruitfulness for the Lord. But something must occur in the life of a servant of Jesus before these three necessary elements for fruitfulness will be lived out in our lives. We must be broken of self-will, self-sufficiency, and self-interests. And that brokenness only comes from walking the same path of servitude Jesus did; a path of suffering.

In today’s scripture, we see the hearts of God the Father and God the Son in providing for our salvation. And that provision was a path of excruciating suffering for the Son. Go up and read the words Isaiah used to describe what Jesus endured as the Suffering Servant of God in order to save our souls. Then, read of the will of God the Father toward His Son. He crushed Him. He broke Him. He made Him a sacrifice. Friends, if we want God to use us, then we must submit to Him crushing us, breaking us, and making us a living sacrifice for His use. This cannot be just a light bruising of us. Nor can we negotiate the level of our sacrifice for the Lord. As He dealt with His Son so will He deal with us. Obviously not as a sacrifice for sin, but of making us suffering servants given over entirely to His will. A fit vessel for the Master’s use must first be a vessel emptied of self. When it comes to this self-emptying, it is not easy; death to self never is or will be. Nor is it popular; living exclusively for Someone else is a foreign concept in our world and even in our churches. And it is non-negotiable. God owns no servants of His that have not traveled on the same road of suffering His Son traveled.

This principle of servanthood, of dying to self to be fruitful for Christ, was illustrated by our Lord by an agricultural image. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). He is telling us, “Do you want to bear fruit for me? Then, you must die to self. You must crucify your will, desires, plans, goals, and everything else in your life and be given over entirely to Me as Your only Lord and Master.” Perhaps a reason why we may not see much fruit in and from our lives is our unwillingness to suffer the purging of ourselves in order to bear fruit. Yes, there is only one path to fruitfulness for the Lord. It is the same path Jesus walked. Are we willing to go down it? Don’t be reluctant. The One who already walked it has promised to walk with us as we do likewise. And oh the joy of His Presence as He makes us, then uses us, to bear much fruit for His glory.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to realize You have ordained the only path for spiritual service is suffering.”

QUOTE: “The only way to be a servant for Jesus is to model His example as the Suffering Servant.”