Slaves

“For the Israelites are My slaves. They are my slaves I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 25:55 CSB)

At the beginning of this century an ailing Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, sat on a stage with one of America’s great teachers of leadership, John Maxwell. Maxwell had invited Bright for an interview about leadership, and though his wife and doctors objected, Bright went anyway because of the audience – a group of pastors. After numerous glowing accolades from Maxwell, just before the interview began, Bright asked if he could add one more description of himself to the list. Maxwell agreed, of course, and Bill Bright said, “While I appreciate all that has been said about me, the one word that best describes who I am is the word ‘slave.’ I am a slave of Jesus Christ.”

God described the people of Israel as His “slaves.” Some versions minimize the impact by translating the word as “servants.” But the idea is still very much the same. Paul often referred to himself in his letters as the “bond-slave” of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 7:1-3 we read, “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel rise up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered to harm the earth and the sea: ‘Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads.’”

Christians are, thus, described as “slaves of God” in various places throughout the Bible. Whether slaves or servants, the idea is that Christians are called to serve God and His purposes, and the stated purpose of Jesus was “to seek and to save the lost.” That is what our servanthood is all about. We are set free from the tyranny of sin so that we can serve the purpose of God in helping a lost world hear the good news of forgiveness and salvation and eternal life.

Today may we thus follow as the Master leads.

Lord, We recognize Your Lordship in our lives, and we seek to carry out our calling today and each day. We will follow as You lead. Amen.