A Commonality

We must note that all the great biblical characters have a commonality, including Jesus. What do you think it is?

Some may think of it as the power to accomplish the great works they accomplished. That may be true for some, but not for all. For instance, Moses had lost all of the power he might have had as a son of a princess in the powerful Egyptian kingdom to be the leader of the Israelites. Even the most powerful Israelite king, David, didn’t have such power. Instead, he humbly acknowledged that all power was from God (1 Samuel 17:47; Psalm 62:11). We know one is great to God not because he has the power of his own but because he is meek before God enough for God to empower him.

Some may think of the commonality of the great characters in the Bible as righteousness. That may be true if we look at their high times. However, it is not the case only for the biblical characters but all believers. All believers fluctuate between highs and lows in terms of righteousness. We also can be as holy as the great characters at our high times. However, all humans have low times and go far from righteousness. No one is perfect in righteousness. There was no great biblical character who was perfect in righteousness. What about Abraham, Moses, Samson, and king David? Everyone passed the low time in terms of righteousness at least once.

Some may say that the commonality of the great Bible characters is that God called them personally. That is true. However, this may not be their case only either. God called all people to be saved and to do some missions, whether or not the person obeys God and accepts it. So then, God’s calling is a commonality not only of the Bible characters but all people of God, or even all people.

Then, what is the commonality of the great biblical characters? It is that they served others. They served people according to God’s will. Yes, God called them as He does everyone. However, all the biblical characters were those who complied with the calling and obeyed and offered their lives to God to do His will. God’s will was always to serve people, and all of them served people. It is true even with the Son of God. He came to serve us even to death on the cross (Matthew 20:28; Philippians 2:5-8). There was no great biblical character who didn’t serve others. It is always the same in the kingdom of God. Therefore, if anyone serves others according to the will of God, he has a commonality with all the great biblical characters.

We might think that it is not humble to desire to be a great biblical character in the kingdom of God, like the ones in the Bible. However, if we understand a great biblical character is all about serving others, we will know that such desire means humility and obedience. So then, it is a biblical and recommendable desire for all Christians. Desiring to be a great biblical character is not a selfish ambition but a godly aspiration for all Christians.