Ascent Week 10

Psalm 129

“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”

    let Israel say;

“they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,

    but they have not gained the victory over me.

Plowmen have plowed my back

    and made their furrows long.

But the Lord is righteous;

    he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”

May all who hate Zion

    be turned back in shame.

May they be like grass on the roof,

    which withers before it can grow;

a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,

    nor one who gathers fill his arms.

May those who pass by not say to them,

    “The blessing of the Lord be on you;

we bless you in the name of the Lord.”

Seeing Ourselves as Bondservants

No one is comfortable with the idea of becoming a slave...especially given the state of our culture. As a society, we have endured the tempestuous horrors of a Civil War over the very concept of slavery. But the fact remains that the Scriptures call us to a life of indentured servitude. As we looked at on Sunday (if you were with us), God allowed in His Law to Moses an opportunity for the servant who loved his master to be his slave for life. In his former life, this servant was forced to work because his master had purchased him at a price. In the law given in Exodus 21, it is clearly spelled out that the servant had the right to "stay on" with his master and serving him not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Read Exodus 21:1-6 again, and then come back and I want to open your eyes to two words that are especially important to this idea.

The first word is LOVE. This servant decides to stay because of his love for his master, wife and children. He is staying with the idea that he doesn't want to go anywhere else. This servant may have come into the situation he was in because of a debt he owed the master, or perhaps he just needed to have a place to live and survive. But when his six years were up, he had the option to go or stay. When he stayed, it was out of love.

The second word is FREE. This servant is free to go. He owes the master nothing at this point because he served him for six years. He is free to go without owing the master a thing. This freedom coupled with his love then makes his decision to stay all the more compelling. He doesn't have to stay, but because he loves he makes the choice of his free will to stay.

When we see ourselves in this way, we are telling God, "I know that I am free, but I also know that I love you and my family, and I want to serve you for the rest of my life."

As we have made the challenge to see ourselves as servants of the Most High God, let us remember that this decision comes as a result of our own free will born out of a love for God that is deeper than anything else we could hope for.

Please feel free to leave a question or a comment below. And we will see you on Sunday!!