Willing to Serve

Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor? Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
Job 39:9–12
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Willing to Serve
As God continues to question Job He turns His attention to the wild ox.  An ancient animal now believed to be extinct, the wild ox was spoken of in ancient times as a fierce beast unable to be tamed. In these series of questions, the obvious answer from Job is no. He is unable to tame this beast and make it yield to his power. The wild ox would never be willing to serve Job as a domesticated beast of burden. The point being made is that only God could accomplish such a task. Only God is master over creation. Yet even in God’s omnipotence, He humbles Himself to the point of becoming flesh. In Christ God becomes like us in every way except without sin. He comes willing to serve His creation. A creation that had rejected Him. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). On the cross, Jesus serves us by His death. He took our sins and gave His life as a ransom.  So now we are reconciled through Him to the Father. At His resurrection, He served us by defeating sin, death, and the devil. And at every Divine Service, we are once again served by Christ as He offers His true body and blood at the altar and as His forgiveness is pronounced over us. And our response is to pray, praise, and give thanks for all these marvelous gifts, and to serve God by serving our neighbors in love.