Servant: : a person who serves others: as a : an individual who performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer b : a person in the employ and subject to the direction or control of an individual or company
Slave: 1. a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property
2. a person who is forced to work for another against his will
3. a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence: a slave to television
4. a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay
5. a. a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)
b. ( as modifier ): slave cylinder
— vb (often foll by away )
6. to work like a slave
7. ( tr ) an archaic word for enslave
I got these definitions from http://www.dictionary.com/.
This week has been an emotional one! My sister's father in law is in the hospital facing a major heart surgery that no one was expecting to be happening. I went to the doctor for some issues I've been having and am being referred to a neuro something or other by my ENT for what he believes is a herniated or ruptured disc and also to a neuroontolygist in Dallas for another major surgery on my ear. Neither of these things am I excited about dealing with, I know that treatment, surgery, and the healing process are not going to be fun, but the thought of being healed and not having pain anymore and being able to hear the smallest things that I miss each day is what is pushing me forward.
Tonight I went to the Bible study I go to every other week in South Bossier with my oldest sister and a group of ladies that she knows, most of whom I only know by going to this study. We started a new study tonight, you may have heard of it, Breaking Free by Beth Moore. As we delved into our first session, I could tell that this one is going to be a tough, get to know your deepest areas, face some issues kind of study. And I hate facing issues..or admitting that I have them, but Lord knows, I do. We listened as Beth prepared us and challenged us for what the next few weeks of study are going to bring us to and how God will bring us through it. We wrapped up the night with our prayer concerns, like we always do, and spent special prayer time over my sister praying for her father-in-law, and these sweet, precious ladies, many of whom as I said before, I only know from this study, prayed over me for the medical issues I'm facing over the next month or so.
As I left from there tonight, I drove home with my radio off, as I often do and talked to God and thought about what I'm facing in my medical life and how it reflects my spiritual life. Do I let my fear and my uneasiness about another big surgery keep me from being healed and restored? No. I should have the same thought process about healing and restoring my life in Christ. One of the things Beth Moore said was that "bondage is anything that hinders us from the fullness of what God intends us to be." And I thought about the differences between a servant and a slave.
You see the definitions above, but when I think of a servant, I think of someone that lives their life to serve and please another, to show love and honor. When I think of a slave, I think of someone that is forced to life a live of pitifulness, being owned by their actions and lifestyle. The question kept coming to my mind "Am I servant of Christ, or a slave to Satan?" That is such a tough question to answer outloud, because make no mistake, if you haven't been living your life to serve Christ, guess who is in control? There is no in between. When I was dating Richard and we were in college at Tech, we attended the Wesley Foundation and Richard was on the drama team that would do skits and perfomances for the services at Wesley and around campus. One of the skits they did was the "Two Masters" skit, where the person is being yanked and pulled between two people giving him different orders, each becoming more and more demanding to the point of the slave/servant explodes and asks the crowd how they are able to serve 2 masters. So many times I feel myself get into the rut of serving God when it's convienient and not out of the love of servanthood and sharing His love with others. And there is one person that is so pleased by that laziness, and will provide every encouragement and temptation to feed and prolong that laziness to the point that you almost forget the joy and unbelievable reward you feel when you serve someone out of Christ's love.
So I ask you tonight, Are you a servant of Christ or a slave to Satan?
1 Timothy 6:1-2 "All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service sare believers and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them."
Matthew 11: 28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
