Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus with a special request for her two sons, James and John. She requested that her sons might sit on both sides of Jesus when He came into His kingdom.
I wonder how her sons felt about that? Maybe their mother had been doing this all their lives, manipulating to get them promoted in life. Were they Mama’s boys? Did Mama always run their lives? Did they not have the guts to ask themselves, so they let their mother do the asking?
But Jesus said, “You don’t even know what you are asking. It is not up to me, but it is in the Father’s hand. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” Matt 20:22.
They both said yes, they were able, but they didn’t realize that Jesus was speaking of His own death soon to come. When Jesus responded, “You will drink My cup,” He knew that James would soon be martyred.
The other ten disciples got mad, but Jesus settled it once and for all when he said, “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant,” Matt 20:26.
There is a song that says this is an upside down kingdom. The way to become great in the kingdom is to become the least. The way up is down, the way to become great is to humble yourself, the way to become the boss is to become a servant.
Even in the natural world, the best bosses are those who have come up through the ranks of employees and done the jobs that they are telling others how to do.
The way to see your child become all that God intends for her to become is to teach her to serve other people. And please don’t try to manipulate things to see that your child gets the best seat or the preferred place or the special treatment. No one likes a mother who pushes her kids to the front all the time.
And remember this: let God do the promoting. It’ll save you a lot of heartache in the long run.