Luke 4:39 Immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
Would you liked to be served breakfast in bed? Well, I can tell you from experience that it is entirely overrated. In fact, there are entire communities called hospitals where people are served breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed. Would you rather be giving breakfast in bed or be given breakfast in bed? Actually, taking breakfast in bed is entirely overrated and serving is underrated.
In Luke 4 we have a story of Jesus, but the setting is at Peter’s mother-in-law’s home. Can you imagine being Peter’s mother-in-law? Some of you have a hard time imagining being a mother-in-law at all, but imagine being Peter’s mother-in-law! The Bible says that Jesus went to Simon’s house and his mother-in-law was taken with “a great fever; and they besought him for her.” It wasn’t just a fever, it was a big one, and people were concerned for her. They loved her enough to ask Jesus to help.
The Bible says that He “rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.” What did Jesus do? He healed her. What did she do? She served. When did she do it? She did it immediately. This illustrates something very important. It illustrates that serving is a sign of health. Everyone has problems. You have problems, but so does everyone you see today. Everyone you see has worries, whether you know it or not. Everyone has questions. That doesn’t make you unusual. What would make you unusual indeed is thinking about other people instead of thinking merely and only about yourself.
Serving is as common a sign of health as is eating. In Luke 8, Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead, and the first thing Jesus did was to command that the daughter be fed. It is a sign of life and health if I am eating and serving. The Lord’s ministry to us is so that we will serve and minister to Him and to others.
II Corinthians 1:3, speaking of God, says, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” People do not relate to your success or plenty; they relate to your problems. People without problems have rarely helped anyone else, and serving others is a sign of health. The first thing Peter’s mother-in-law did when she was raised to health was to begin serving. If serving is a sign of health, then how healthy are you?