Luke 17:1

Luke 17:1 says, Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!  Jesus said that offenses were coming against the disciples, but He also said woe unto those who committed them.  As followers of Christ, we need to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and if we do, we will not be guilty of doing this.  Verse two adds, It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.  Jesus said a person would be better off drowned than offending one of God's people, those who had put their faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  As we look at the world today, there are a lot of people who would be better off drowned in God's eyes, but that doesn't mean that we are to drown them.  We are still to reach out with the love of God even if they offend us, or even try to harm us.  Verse three states, Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  Jesus tells us if our brother trespasses against us, we are to rebuke him for what he did, and if he repents, we are to forgive him.  We are not to just ignore the situation, but we are to deal with it looking for restoration to our brothers and sisters if they do something wrong to us.  Verse four adds, And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.  Jesus basically said if those who trespass against us do so over and over, then repent and ask forgiveness, we are to forgive them.  Yet, too often we are of a three strikes and you are out mentality.  After forgiving someone twice, especially in the same-day, we too often say that we no longer believe they are sorry and we are no longer willing to forgive them.  Verse five says, And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.  The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith.  We may sometimes ask the same thing of God.  Verse six adds, And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey.  Jesus said it was not really a matter of increasing their faith, but of exercising it no matter if you feel that your faith is very small.  If we are not willing to act when we feel that our faith is small, we will probably always feel that it is too small to act.  Verse seven asks, But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?  Jesus asked which of them if they had a servant who had been out working in the field all day would start to serve that servant when he came in.  We are servants of Christ as Christians, and we should never expect Him to be our servant instead.  Verse eight adds, And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?  Jesus said the lord of that servant would expect him to serve his meal first instead, then the servant could eat and drink.  The fact that the servant had been doing what he had supposed to do all day did not change his status when he came in from the fields.  He was still there to meet the needs of His lord.  No matter how hard we may be working for God, we cannot expect to change our status as His servants, but we can also expect our needs to be met.  Verse nine continues, Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.  Jesus asked if the disciples thought that the lord of the servant would thank him for simply doing his duty.  We cannot expect God to reward us or even praise us for doing what He has called us to do, but too often Christians seem to expect to be praised and rewarded for simply doing what God has called them to do.  Verse ten concludes, So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.  Jesus said that instead of expecting a reward, that when we do what is required of us by God that we should still feel like we are unprofitable servants.  We are to do all for the glory of God, and there does not come a time when we sit back and expect God to wait on us.