July 2

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God …”  — ROMANS 1:1

The foundation of all Paul’s activities and ambitions lie in his understanding that he is a servant of Jesus Christ. The word ‘servant’ is a neglected one in our contemporary Christian vocabulary, but it’s a frequently used one in the New Testament. By the end of the apostolic era, the common description of a Christian was that he or she is a servant of Jesus Christ.  

That may sound a little oppressive to us, because the whole idea of servitude is not an attractive one, nor is it the kind of life we want to embrace. But in actual fact, it’s very liberating, and I’ll give you three reasons why. When we see ourselves as servants, we’re concerned with our master’s plan, and recognize there is someone who is going to direct our lives. Left to control our own lives, we’re unable to control the consequences, but with Christ as our master, the consequences are His responsibility.

A servant doesn’t come with his own agenda. He submits himself to the agenda of the one who directs him. Christ’s the Master; we’re His servants. We have the assurance that when we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He’s going to direct our paths. It’s His job to put us where He wants us, and we know wherever we are is because God has placed us there, which gives our work a divine purpose.   

Secondly, a servant is also dependent on his master’s provision. When a master gives instructions, he has to provide the resources to accomplish those instructions, and in Jesus Christ we have ample resources for any task He has called us to do. Thirdly, if the servant is concerned with his master’s plans and dependent on his master’s provisions, he’s also committed to his master’s purpose. Sometimes we don’t know the significance of the things God leads us to do, but He is the Master Planner, and He’s the one who knows how we are contributing to an overall purpose in fulfilling His agenda.

Far from being oppressive, being a servant of Christ is liberating. We can begin every day knowing we’ve got someone who is capable of directing our paths, providing the resources, and who is going to cause our lives to be significant. It is only as we live with submission to Christ as Lord and Master that we find all the benefits and blessings which derive from living in relationship with Him.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, It is extremely liberating having You as my master. Thank You for directing my paths, providing the resources and giving my life significant meaning and purpose. 

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I experiencing the liberation there is in serving Christ?