Slave Labor

(seated) My Rebecca AKA Pearl Shellfish

"Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up...For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as slaves because of Jesus. For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:1,5-6) 

Last week, while my Rebecca sparkled on stage as Pearl Shellfish, a second grader leaned over to his teacher and whispered, "They must pay her a LOT of money." "No," she replied, "actually, she does this for FREE."

In the New Testament, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, and even Jesus' own half brother, James, referred to themselves as slaves of Christ or bondservants bound in service to God without wages. These holy men did not serve Jesus because they were forced to or paid to. Out of hearts of love and devotion, they served Him because they longed to.

Paul wrote, "Don't you realize that you become a slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living...Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using this illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy...now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life." (Romans 6:16-11)

Beloved, whose slave are you?