“SERVANT” FOR LIFE

Written By TWFT
Friday, February 24
 
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle.”   Ro 1:1 NAS
 
In the Bible the word “minister” isn’t just a noun (which denotes a person, place, or thing); it’s also a verb (an action word).  It’s what you do, not what you claim to be.  In Scripture, the word “servant” sometimes referred to a third-level galley slave chained to the oar of a Roman ship.  Day and night, they rowed to the beat of another, and whether in battle or in merchant service, they expected to die chained to that oar.  What a picture!  Paul says, “Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God…Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable” (Ro 12:1 NLT).  Paul had no doubt about what God had called him to be.  When he referred to himself as a “bond-servant,” he was describing a slave who served his master faithfully for six years.  In the seventh year, the law of Moses required that a slave be set free.  But if, when he was released, he came back and said, “Master, I’m not serving you because I have to; I’m serving you because I want to,” his master would take him before a magistrate and pierce his ear, signifying that he belonged to him forever (See Ex 21:6).  Sometimes you need to look up and say: “Lord, I’m not serving you because I have to; I’m serving you because I love you.  Pierce my ear.  Mark me as yours.  Bond me with you so I can never belong to another.”  When you think of everything Jesus has done for you, is that really too much to ask?