Becoming Enslaved

Becoming Enslaved

We never should desire to become a slave to anything that is foreign to God and his mercy for us.  Slavery, as we know how it became a Black Market environment in our past history, is still a harsh reminder of man’s thrust towards power over helpless human beings. 

However, becoming a student of ownership towards holy desires can be the one envelopment in our quest to have peace knowing there is someone who wants to own our souls.  To find this position in the marketplace of humanity should allow us to stand humbly before the divine presence of the Holy Spirit, as he points a finger at you and me, saying:  “There, I want this one and that one as well.”  How does that statement towards the original owner, which is sin, make us feel?  

Think back, just a few years ago, how the attractions of modern life were the very essence that promised freedom from rules or commandments that seemed to be peering over our shoulder.  We can all reflect on those moments when something kept pulling at our hearts with a gentle tug, and wouldn’t let go.  If anything, we were slaves to the one or several nuances that satisfied our current desires.  Those of us who had some connection to moral standards knew in some way that these instances satisfied us for a short period of time.  In the long run, that time period can be compared to a nano second.  Almost too short to gain any real satisfaction for the shadow of sin.

Ok, now we have been purchased by a new owner, one who promises a different way of living.  He requires only one form of obedience; complete acceptance to his generosity of his purchase.  What , we may ask, is that kindness?  In answer to our question, God opens a kaleidoscope revealing a crowd of people standing along the Via Dolorosa, as his Son walked through suffering to his ultimate sacrifice, the Cross on Calvary.  For every step his Son took there were crowds of onlookers, many cheering him on and many more throwing words of condemnation towards him.

Is this the wealth that our new owner has going for him?  No, but it is the treasure that assures you and I that our last incarceration has been paid for and now we are free to become slaves of a new care-taker, the shepherd of our souls.    Rather than calling our new-found freedom as slaves, we should take hold of our salvation which was paid for by the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  The words “It is Finished” (Jn 19: 30) says it all; the purchase of each of us is paid for and our sign of that is still the crucifix that we hold dear as a reminder how much our Lord loves us. 

During the early years of our nation there were some land-owners who treated their servants with respect.  As much as some appeared to be gracious in their treating these recently purchased slaves, none of them can compare with the gentle love that Almighty God has given to all of us.  Living up to the new-found freedom we have been given, we are to use this as an example for some still held bound by another slave owner;  Sin they still hold onto.  We have a mandate to seek them and present the freedom we enjoy that can be theirs as well. Our requirement is to evangelize as well as we can.  What freedom we have, give it away

Ralph B. Hathaway