Taken As A Slave

Taken As A Slave
November 3, 2014
Ephesians 6:6  "Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart."

Slavery is a horrible thing, but unfortunately it happens.  Slavery is something understood by all generations throughout history, starting with the first book of the Bible.  Today, most understand slavery as kidnapping, physical bondage, and abuse.  But in the Bible, there was additional type of slave.  You could assign yourself as someone's slave to pay off a debt; there was no kidnapping involved.  This was not as palatable as indentured servitude, but a full form of slavery because you still became someone's property.  It was humiliating and done out of complete desperation due to a physical circumstance.  It was a last resort knowing there wasn't much lower a human could get.  I doubt even the warmth of a spring sunrise on your face could bring even momentary solace in any type of slavery situation.

Despite the deplorable circumstance of being a slave, the Bible said a person should keep his chin up and continue in life as if he is doing the will of the Lord.  How in the world could being a slave be the Lord's will?  It's not.  But the Lord recognized that horrible, desperate circumstances would put people in unsavory places.  He was saying that even in those stomach churning positions, a Christian should still find a way to serve the Lord with a good heart and a good attitude, maybe even with a smile on his face.  Wow, be a slave with a smile on your face having Jesus in your heart?  Yep.  You and I don't have smiles most days and we aren't even slaves.  We walk through life, frustrated by our circumstances and fail to serve the Lord in the lowest of places, even if we could pretend it was the Lord's will.

No one would consider slavery as the Lord's will, but we are instructed to act as if it is, because in that situation we can still move forward with the Lord's will for our lives.  We think the situation or circumstance of life that has taken us as a slave, away from the Lord's design, will somehow end soon so we may get back to living in the will of the Father.  Nope.  Right here, right now, we are to submit to the Lord and do His will, fulfill His mission for our lives in the midst of the path we perceive has derailed us from the perfect design of the Maker.

You may feel your situation has taken you as a slave, keeping your from doing what you want to do in life, or from living the life you thought the Lord intended.  Today is still the day that the Lord has made and you should rejoice and be glad in it, whatever it brings.  Each and every day is marked out with the Lord's will for your life despite the cheap circumstance in which you find yourself.  I will not suggest this is easy, because even if I can do something with a smile on my face, I still lie in bed at night complaining to the Father to change it.  I'm not saying you have to like the situation you are in, but I am suggesting in the midst of the daily activities you are forced to do, do them with all your heart, with a good attitude, because that alone is the will of the Father.

You may be a slave to your situation, but that does not remove your obligation to move forward in the Lord's will.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 118:24, Ecc 9:10, Rom 6:22, Eph 6:5-9, Phil 2:14-16, Col 3:23