Servant or Slave?

Posted by Paul in Devotionals | 14 comments

Luke 18:18-30 – The Rich Young Ruler

“Servant or Slave?”

The rich young ruler approached Jesus asking for eternal life and Jesus responds by referring him to the specific commandments that refer to his relationship with people. The man obviously knows that even though he has technically fulfilled those commands something is still not quite right.

Jesus commands him to give up his possessions and follow him. Now, some say that Jesus’ demands here are even more burdensome than those of the Old Covenant but of course Jesus is not necessarily prescribing this solution to everyone.

Jesus came to set us free, free from sin. But what is sin? It is anything that controls us. Anything that restricts our freedom to joyfully serve God.Or to put it this way, life should;

“Be your servant, you should not become its slave”.

Whatever your pleasure is [unless it is directly forbidden], your hobby, your ambition, your dream etc -  It is fine, if it serves you and your pursuit of God. But it it enslaves and restricts you then Jesus wants to set you free.

Jesus tells the onlookers that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven… why? Because riches are wrong? No! But because they enslave us… our thinking, our doing. But everything is possible with God.

Why?

Because even though the Gospel is generic, God’s Spirit is specific.

By His Spirit He can point out exactly what enslaves each one of us and if we ask Him to He can show us the precise steps to becoming free. The Gospel is a great Gospel because its application to our lives comes with an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving guide.

Unless expressly forbidden, your guilt pleasure is not guilty if its your servant, but only if you are its servant. So ask the guide to help you work out which one it is and live the joyful life that will lead to!