Eternal Servant

My Dear Friends,

The previous five blogs laid down a pattern that I will follow. I am sure that over time I will make some adjustments.  Most of what was written was original in some respect, but not in the pattern. The pattern is very clear once you begin to see with the heart of a servant. The Gospel is all about whom we will serve. The Christian church talks about following, obeying, and trusting in the will of God. It is odd that we stop short of the goal by not talking about the goal. That is to be servants in our hearts 24 hours a day and 365 days of the year. Jesus said there is no greater love than this, but to lay down one’s life for another. When you lay your life down to “follow Jesus,” you are actually saying you are no longer owner of your life. Ownership has been transferred to Jesus. In the bible God gives an interesting ritual when a person pledges to be a freewill slave. The following verses are in Deuteronomy Chapter 15:

[12]  “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. [13] “When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. [14] “You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. [15] “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. [16] “It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; [17] then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.

In the above verses we see the following:

The person is free to choose (v12).

Love for the master and the household (v16).

Chooses to be a servant (v16).

An awl as a piercing instrument (v17).

Nailed (so to speak) to the door by the awl (v17).

An ear to the door (v17).

Blood on the door from the piercing (v17).

A servant forever (v17).

 

This is an image of Christ nailed to the cross and what it means to follow Him.  The bible says faith comes by hearing. It is interesting then that the ear (our hearing) is nailed to the door. In the Book of John Chapter 10 Jesus says, “I am the Door.”  The implication here is that this servant has determined that their ear is permanently attached their master’s voice and that they hear no one else. The servant has pledged their life (blood) to the operation of the master’s house.

This ritual does not demonstrate enslavement per se, but willingness to serve. To be forever bonded to the Master and His household for the sake of love. This is a picture of heaven, a household full of loving servants devoted to the Master of Love.

If you find the idea of being an eternal servant troubling, then let me leave you with this note from Jesus in John Chapter 15:

[12] “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. [13] “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. [14] “You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. [17] “This I command you, that you love one another.

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

DFCutler