“If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:26 CSB)
Devotional
Most acts of following Jesus never make it into a story anyone tells. Driving someone to another round of appointments. Leading a small group on an ordinary Wednesday. Being faithful with the unglamorous parts of a job nobody thanks you for. No parade, no recognition, just showing up again.
Jesus says this right before his own death, describing exactly what following him actually looks like. Not comfort and applause, but presence with him wherever that leads, including the hard and hidden places. And then he adds a promise that is easy to read past too quickly. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Not might notice. Will honor. That is a weightier word than recognition, and it comes from the one whose opinion actually settles the matter.
Let that sit for a moment, because it is genuinely astonishing when you slow down enough to actually hear it. The God who spoke galaxies into existence takes personal notice of small, faithful, unglamorous obedience and calls it honourable. Not the visible achievements. The quiet, repeated showing up that nobody else is keeping track of.
What changes when we take this seriously is how we see the invisible parts of following Jesus. They are not the leftover, unimportant bits of a faithful life while we wait for something bigger to prove ourselves with. They are exactly the kind of thing the Father notices and honours, on purpose, every time.
That is who God is toward the people quietly serving him where nobody is watching. Not a distant king handing out medals from far away, but a Father who is present precisely where his servants are, delighted by faithfulness long before anyone else thinks to be.
Reflection
I can think of plenty of ordinary, unnoticed things I have done that felt like they didn’t count for much because nobody saw them. I am realizing that is not how the Father is keeping score at all. I want to stop treating the hidden parts of following Jesus as the parts that don’t matter yet. If he calls it honourable, I want to start believing that while I am doing it, not only afterward.
Prayer
Father, thank you that you notice what we do when nobody else is watching. Forgive us for treating our hidden faithfulness like it matters less than the visible kind. Help us follow you into the unglamorous places without needing an audience to make it feel worthwhile. Thank you that you already call it honourable, even before we can see why.