"I love my master.........I will not go out free" Exodus 21: 5
Here we have what what I would call....the measure of love's consecration. This slave was left in no doubt regarding the magnitude of the issues involved in the choice confronting him. "He shall serve him forever" I believe this meant the acceptance of an absolute authorty:...."he shall serve him...."
The whole ordering of his life was to pass into other hands. A slave possessed nothing, decided nothing. He was simply there to be available, to be at the disposal, beck and call of his master, to do or not to do, to go or not to go, for any task or no task. "He shall serve him" How vastly different his pattern of living would be from that of other men.
I would have you note this is the New Testament pattern. "Ye are not your own" says the word of God..."for ye are bought with a price"
As Paul in Ephesians 2 describes the basic pattern of life for those who are now Christians. He reminds the Ephesians that before they were in Christ, the whole pattern of their living was quite different.
Two principles dominated their conduct. either they did what others did "Ye walked according to the course of this world" (Eph. 2: 2) or you did what you wanted to do, "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph 2: 3) That is the principle upon which the unconverted person lives; he does what others do; he does what he wants.
But a slave was not free to live in either of these patterns. He certainly did not do what he wanted, nor did he do what others did. He did one thing only.....and that was what his master wanted him to do. To the Apostle Paul, in the very hour of his conversion, the vision of this other way came to him...when he said "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?"
Here we have what what I would call....the measure of love's consecration. This slave was left in no doubt regarding the magnitude of the issues involved in the choice confronting him. "He shall serve him forever" I believe this meant the acceptance of an absolute authorty:...."he shall serve him...."
The whole ordering of his life was to pass into other hands. A slave possessed nothing, decided nothing. He was simply there to be available, to be at the disposal, beck and call of his master, to do or not to do, to go or not to go, for any task or no task. "He shall serve him" How vastly different his pattern of living would be from that of other men.
I would have you note this is the New Testament pattern. "Ye are not your own" says the word of God..."for ye are bought with a price"
As Paul in Ephesians 2 describes the basic pattern of life for those who are now Christians. He reminds the Ephesians that before they were in Christ, the whole pattern of their living was quite different.
Two principles dominated their conduct. either they did what others did "Ye walked according to the course of this world" (Eph. 2: 2) or you did what you wanted to do, "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph 2: 3) That is the principle upon which the unconverted person lives; he does what others do; he does what he wants.
But a slave was not free to live in either of these patterns. He certainly did not do what he wanted, nor did he do what others did. He did one thing only.....and that was what his master wanted him to do. To the Apostle Paul, in the very hour of his conversion, the vision of this other way came to him...when he said "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?"
