Slavery Can Be a Good Thing
SHAZAM! How's that for a blog post title - especially considering it's Martin Luther King Jr.'s special day! Well, this post has pretty nothing to do with slavery based on socioeconomic status, racism or power. Praise God for people like Doctor King who in effect said to the world, "Wake up, O Sleeper". Politics aside, thank God for giving a man like Obama the same chance and opportunity we all should have, given talent and dedication. Judging or devaluing a man by his skin color is STUPID waste extraordinaire! Happy MLK Jr. Day, and congratulations, Mr. Obama - soon to be "Mr. President"! "I have a dream" indeed.
Even so, I'm not talking about that sort of slavery, but rather voluntary slavery. To follow are some thoughts I wrote down while considering Romans 1:1.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Romans 1:1 ESV
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Romans 1:1 NASB
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle
and sent out to preach his Good News.Romans 1:1 NLT
"A slave of Christ Jesus". The word "slave" has a pretty negative connotation in our minds today as Americans. For good reason, I believe. All should be free to pursue life and provision through freedom. I myself would not choose to have anyone "under" me. I don't like the idea of being "over" anyone. Yet don't we so often live as if our way is right, that our intellect rules supreme, or our ideas are worthy of exclusive attention or acceptance? I know I am guilty of this at times.
If you want to be great in God's Kingdom, learn to be a servant of all. Honestly, I don't even want to be great in God's Kingdom. I do want to learn to be a servant of all while here on earth - not so I can one day be called or awarded "great", but because my Master, Lord of all, made Himself nothing, washed my feet, and died in my place. He took my deserved death penalty on Himself. No servant is greater than his master. It is enough that a servant be like his master. If the Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of God - became obedient even to death, and this (He) the very image and Word of God, even God Himself... who am I, who am I, who am I to desire a title or position?
Lord, forgive me! Behold, I am but dust. I am animated dirt. What is this, that the Creator of all things should become flesh? Flesh is low and created. You did the impossible and insomuch suffered and died for us all! Thank You, humble King, who rides on a donkey and is not ashamed to mix with crowds of the lowly and rejected.
Don't let me be made much of at the cost of Your glory. I accept anything You freely give and do not reject the Gift, for I am truly needy. Even so, I give You praise and credit for any good thing born in me, for without You I am nothing. Aside from the sustenance of Your hand I am filthy and wicked. My sin is my own shame and my good is Your glory. I am naked before you; I hide away. Yet You lift my head and shine in my eyes. You clothe me with Christ and fill me with the Spirit of whiter than white to cleanse me.
At this Lord, I long to be Your slave! I once was a slave to the dark ways of this world and the lusts of my flesh. Because of my unrighteous acts and unwholesome heart I was perishing in my way.
If there is truly free will, I have come to realize the significance of it. God could by his sovereignty make us all subject to His will. He also could have created us as beings incapable of choice or will. Because love is a choice, God gave us the opportunity to choose, even to choose disobedience which is sin that leads to death and separation from God. Without this opportunity to choose we could not love God.
Sometimes I wish that becoming a new creature in Christ severed us from our ability to choose sin. I wish to become a robot to His will. Yet even though Jesus' blood makes us righteous in the sight of God, our flesh remains. We must still choose to love, to believe and to obey.
Somehow Paul is a slave of Jesus Christ. Though the world has cast a very negative shadow on this word, I long to be a slave of Christ, along with whatever that entails by God's infinite wisdom and design. I have seen the ends to the means of being my own master. The results are not good. The lie that serving oneself brings happiness and satisfaction are insidious. Being made subject to God and His plan is what brings completion and joy to man, in spite of the struggles and pains that will come as the result of such a choice. The suffering of this world is not worthy comparing with what God has prepared for those who choose to love Him.