1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:1-6)
The Apostle Paul understood his position and standing in Jesus Christ. Here, in verse 1, he calls himself “a servant of Jesus Christ.” In other translations, the wording is “bond-servant” or “slave”.
On the road to Damascus, Paul’s eyes were opened twice, first, by the revelation that he was guilty of persecuting the very Son of God, Jesus the Christ; secondly, by the experience of the healing of his blindness by God through His servant, Ananias. Paul now knew Jesus by experience, thus developing trust.
Consequently, Paul has a deep understanding when Jesus says, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. This is certainly an understanding lacking in many Christians today, “a servant of Jesus Christ!” Every believer is called into a life of serving Jesus Christ, in a large part by serving others in His name.
Let me give a recent experience as an example. The other day, Ruthi, my sweet wife, and I stopped into a steak house known to offer a large salad bar to have lunch. We would take turns going to the salad bar, so as to not leave personal belongings alone at our booth. While Ruthi was away, the waiter was busy bringing drinks and toast and such. I had noticed that this tall slender young man was very cheerful, and so on his next trip to our booth I engaged him with a question.
“What makes you so happy?” I asked pleasantly.
His answer, somewhat caught off guard, was broken thoughts that included that he enjoyed his job and the customers. But then he stated with absolute confidence, “I am a ringer. I was born to serve, and I love serving others.”
“I am a ringer!” Ringer –“a person or thing that looks exactly like another. a look alike · twin · clone · duplicate · perfect likeness · exact likeness”.
Here was a man who knew why he was here, to be a servant, and was happy doing a servant’s life! He was a ringer! He was the exact likeness of a servant to Jesus Christ, and that made him happy.
So I pose the question to the believer who struggles with identity in Christ. Are you a ringer? Have you yet realized that you are chosen, called, set aside to be a servant of Christ to the world around you? It is no wonder you are not happy. You do not realize that God has placed you in His world as a ringer!
