So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty.”
– Luke 17:10
Luke 17:10 is one of my favorite verses in the Gospel of Luke. I remember reading this verse “So also, when you’ve done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty.” I remember just falling on my face and saying, “That’s it, Lord. I just want to do my duty. What is my duty? How are you leading me? What do you want me to do? I will do it whatever you want me to do. If you want me to go this direction, if you want me to go that direction, if you want me to go in a direction I’m not even thinking about right now, I just want to do my duty. I just want to do whatever you are calling and commanding me to do.”
Thanks be to God that we have the privilege of being servants of Jesus Christ. May we be faithful to carry out our duty.
We Are Unworthy Servants Of God
And so I just want to pray this over our lives today. I’m guessing there might be some people who are making significant decisions, but even in little decisions, don’t we want this to be our heart? Lord, we bow our heads before you now, our hearts before you now, and we pray.
We are unworthy servants. We are so thankful that we have the privilege of being your servants. Jesus, we count it the great honor of our lives, the most undeserved honor and privilege and joy of our lives to be called a servant of Christ. We thank you. Thank you for saving us from our sins. Thank you for bringing us into your family, for not only calling us servants, we’re calling us friends. And so we bow our heads in our hearts before you and we say we want to follow your lead. Whatever you want us to do, we want to do it today in every way.
Luke 17:10 Prays For God’s Wisdom When Making Decisions
God, we pray our every thought, our every decision, our every word, our every action, our every email, our every social media post or every interaction, everything we do today. Help us to serve you in small things and in big things. God, I pray for those who are making big decisions. I think about what I was wrestling through at that point. God, I pray that you would give wisdom. You would give discernment from your spirit for brothers and sisters to know exactly how you are leading them to honor you, to glorify you maximally with their lives.
Oh God, so that when we get to the end, when we finally see your face, that we will be able to look back and say, “We’ve done what you’ve commanded us to do and we will say we are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty.” God, please may that be the story of my life, may that be the story of each of our lives. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
