Luke 17:7–10 (ESV)
Unworthy Servants
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?
8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does
he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
We owe God our full service and truly can do Him no favors. God does not owe us thanks for our obedience. In Christ, He does not forever punish us for our disobedience but forgives us graciously.
When He returns, we will eat and drink in His kingdom as He has served us.
I pray: Grant me a willing heart and able hands, O Lord, to render thanks to You and care to
my neighbors. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1752.