We ARE Servants of the Lord

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Scripture:

Lev. 25:54 And if they have not been redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children with them shall go free in the jubilee year.
Lev. 25:55 For to me the people of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Observation:

Here in Leviticus we discover an entire list of instructions regarding the year of Jubilee.  Every 50th year the children of Israel were to celebrate a special year in which all property went back to its rightful owners.  In the midst of these guidelines comes instruction on servanthood or slavery.  Interestingly if someone found themselves in extremely difficult circumstances they were permitted to sell their labors to another individual.  The amount was determined by the number of years before the year of Jubilee for this determined the length of service.  No one was every to be in permanent service to another person!  Why?  Because everyone and everything belonged to God.  In the year of Jubilee everything returned to its rightful master or owner and all people were set free because they belonged to no one but the Lord.  The Israelites were God's servants -- he was to be their Lord.

Application:

So often I believe we take for granted that the freedom that we enjoy and experience comes to us only through our relationship with God.  We are not independently free!  Paul reminded us over and over again that we would be a slave to one type of master or another.  Our true Master -- the one who loves us is God who sent Jesus to bring us salvation.  If we are not serving God, then we have purposely chosen to serve another master. 

What a beautiful reality it is to discover that we truly belong to God.  We are his children, and we bear the family name.  We are Christians who are blessed by a personal relationship with Jesus.  We are set free, not just in the year of Jubilee, but because of the blood of Jesus we are set free each and every single moment of our days.  Because we belong to him we have the joy of living within his protective arms day in and day out.  We also have the joy of being in his service and doing his will daily.  Why?  Because his will has become my will and there is nothing more that I desire than to serve him and be his hands and feet to the world around me.

Paul continues this theme into the New Testament where he reminds us that he is a servant or a slave to the Lord.  It's not a negative thing - it's a wonderful thing!  We are privileged to be servants of God on high.  Servants to the one who loves us more than we could ever comprehend.  Servants to the one who will do the very best for us day in and day out.  Servants to the one who owns everything!  Why in the world would we ever want to leave that servanthood and choose to serve another master?  "Choose you this day whom you will serve."  The reality is that we will serve one master or another -- we are not without a master.  Why wouldn't we choose the one who loves us so deeply that he is willing to die for us to protect us?!  I want to be a good and faithful servant of the Lord.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your incredible love for us.  Please help me to be a faithful servant.  Amen.

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