The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”

What a bold request: “Increase of faith!” Do I, like a child, ask simply for Jesus to increase my faith?

Part of increasing our faith is accepting our duty under God with conviction and determination. We do not need to be praised by men to do our duty. We are humble, realizing that all we have been given is a gift from God. And so when we want to increase our faith, we line up and humbly seek to do the work of the kingdom of God as servants. In Jewish culture, servanthood many times was used to pay off a debt. As the one paying off the debt in servitude, they do not get to decide what they do or how much privilege they should get. The privilege was already given in the lending of money.

God has already not only given us his Son as a payment for our sins, but he has also canceled the debt of death we owed for them. So we work as servants unto our Lord — not entitled but grateful, not with a demanding nature but with a thankful countenance!

So how does this increase our faith? Our faith is increased in trusting God and seeing him come through as we actively do his will. And he comes through for us every time!

Do I really believe God will come through for me today? What is one thing you are hesitant to totally trust God with?

Lord, thank you for calling your disciples to approach their faith in the same way a servant would. Duty is key to unlocking spiritual growth. When we serve you joyfully and out of duty, with perseverance and patience, we honor you and reflect your love to a dying world!