In sacred scripture, to be God's servant is to be God's friend. The servant is someone especially chosen, especially loved. God prefers him to others. He is ‘my servant'. There is a wonderful sense of intimacy and belonging in that possessive my'. God chooses his servants with a spontaneity and freedom which we see reflected in our own choice of friends. And to be chosen is to belong. We are no longer our own. We are committed to another. The choice is not only one of love but of demand. To be a friend is to be someone of whom a great deal may be asked. God's servant is always someone from whom God feels free to ask for more, much more, than other men.

Sacred scripture bears constant, unswerving witness to this fact. Intimacy with Yahweh means demands by Yahweh. If he chooses someone to be his servant it will inevitably follow that he will have sometliing to ask of them, a task, a mission, an assignment.