Happy Monday!
I hope wherever you are that you are seeing a hint of fall, with cooler temperatures and changing colors. Where I am, we are having “Hotumn”. Not an awful lot of either of those things. I take solace in the fact that when some of you will be experiencing cold and blustery, we will still, for the most part, be experiencing moderate temperatures and the blustering will only be from politicians!
In our weekly Bible study at church, we are doing “Slave” by John MacArthur. I wasn’t too sure about this at first. It only took one week’s study for me to change my mind though. While some Biblical history is involved, it doesn’t take too long before our focus is brought to the real theme of the book.
We are all a slave to someone. In this case, there isn’t a lot of gray area, it is God or Satan. According to Webster, the definition for slave is (1) a person treated as property of another. (2) drudge. Synonyms include: servitude, thralldom, bondage, enslavement .
So, a slave is someone who is owned by another. Usually, the owner would have purchased the slave. We all know the sad history of America’s past. It’s a part of our history that can’t be ignored, but breaks my heart to think about it.
On the other hand, thousands of years ago, another purchase was made. The price paid for the people was very high. The purchaser endured a horrific death and willingly gave His life for US. He paid the price to save us. What a wonderful Master we have! That Master, of course, is Jesus Christ.
There are other types of slavery that we don’t always consider. We can be slaves of food, with it driving our thoughts and actions in everything we do. We can be slaves to drugs/alcohol, and, once again, all of our life is driven by that desire. There are various other addictions that may take over our lives. I have heard many people say they can’t change, they will always be slaves to their addiction. On their own, they are probably correct. It takes the almighty power of Jesus Christ to pull someone out of a self -imposed dungeon of addiction and shame. Without that almighty power, you will usually just replace one thing with another, but Jesus Christ can pull you out of that and fill every void with His Holy Spirit! What a Master we serve!
SO, who is your master? Are you a slave to sin (Satan) or are you a servant to a Master who loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him? I find it a privilege to serve my Master and know He loves me unconditionally. Sometimes, He rebukes me as a Father who corrects His child. He loves me that much.
Pray Unceasingly!!
In His light,
Lois