Devotional for Wednesday May 14, 2008: The Smart Thing to Do
Greg Laurie Senior Pastor Harvest Christian Fellowship Riverside, Ca
"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?"
Whose slave are you? Maybe you believe that you are your own person, the master of your own destiny. But in reality, each of us yields or gives ourselves to someone or something. We are all slaves of someone or something.
I want to be a slave of God. The apostle Paul wrote to believers, "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" (Romans 6:22).
This word "slave" was translated from a Greek word that would have been readily understood in that culture. It referred to a slave who had been bought off the auction block and was then granted freedom. In other words, the master would purchase that slave and then set him or her free.
Slaves who were so thankful to their masters for such a compassionate gesture and wanted to voluntarily serve them would be designated as a "bondslave," meaning a slave by choice. The grateful slave was not a slave for pay or a slave out of fear, but a slave by choice—a loving servant.
That is what Paul said he was, and that is also what we ought to be.
Whose slave are you? You're either a slave of God or a slave of sin. The choice is up to you. You can either yield to sin and pay the price and live a miserable life, or you can yield to God— giving Him your gifts, time, and future— and live life to its fullest. It's the smart thing to do.
