Slavery

I was continuing in my studying of Romans today and I got to Romans 6:15-23. I have always found these passages challenging to digest. I mean who want to be a "slave", right? I started thinking about slavery and how awful it is. I remembered images from history class and such. Then God told me to go look it up. I discovered that the images in my head and the definition are very different. A "slave" is a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another" or another definition says "a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person". If you do some reading you can find several instances from American slavery and world slavery where the slaves said they actually enjoyed being slaves! Enjoy it, what? I started rolling all this about in my head and it occurred to me that the differences between the slaves who enjoyed their position and the slaves that didn't was their masters. If you really think about it we are all enslaved to something. Even the people we know that are seemingly happy are slaves to something. For some it is Christ, for others it's greed or alcohol or just themselves. In the world today we have an "egocentric gospel". We think we can know God and understand salvation without serving Him. But God wants to hold us to a higher standard, He wants more for our lives. WE fear the concept of slavery because we all have those images of abuse, we have a notion of what slavery is but when it come to God it is a much different concept. When God calls us to be His slaves it isn't because He needs our help it is because He know what we need to become and He knows what we need to get there. It's only when we become "wholly subject" to Him that he can get us there. What would happen in your life if you thought about God in everything you do? For me my first thought on many things is "how is this going to affect me?", "Is this something I want to bother with?" What if instead I said "How can I glorify God here?" "Is this what God wants" How much would that please the heart of God. The truth is that we are all human and when we serve our own lives and wants it is all bound to come crashing down around us, because we are imperfect in every way. But when we chose to serve God in all His might and wisdom our live are build on rock and will stand forever. When we surrender not just our hearts but our wills to God he can come in and show us what our lives are for. So often in our society people are searching for purpose. Only when we enslave ourselves to the will of God can we find out true purpose. What an awesome God we serve!

"15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:15-23 NKJV