What I Learned From a Cupbearer

Jun 22, 2010 by jaymac    1 Comment     Posted under: Embracing Each Day

Three thousand years ago during the reign of Babylon, one of the more unique jobs a person could hold was that of a cupbearer. In today’s job market, you might think this to be a cushy job. After all, you take the first sip of the king’s wine. Your job description says: Drink alcohol. Pick up a paycheck every Friday. Now the bad news: A cupbearer sipped the king’s wine for fear of being poisoned. If you, as the cupbearer drank the wine and didn’t fall over dead, you might indeed have a fairly non-stressful job.

Nehemiah, who was the Persian King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer, mourned Jerusalem’s destruction. The walls and the city gate had been destroyed, leaving the once proud city vulnerable to attack. This particular cupbearer felt a burden to rebuild the city’s walls– even though he had no experience building anything.

“At the time,” he said, “I was the king’s cupbearer.”

This simple statement packs a punch. What it tells me is that it doesn’t matter what I have or haven’t done. It doesn’t matter what experience or talent I have, or how much practiced.

Nehemiah learned what he didn’t know. He led. He delegated. He depended on others. He took action, and in less than two months, he rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls.   Like Nehemiah, I am only a cupbearer.

How will you impact the world?

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