WHO IS YOUR “SLAVE MASTER”?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,
you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching
that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free
from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in
human terms because of your human limitations. Just as you
used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing
wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness
leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free
from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at
that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things
result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and
have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness,
and the result is eternal life.
(Romans 6:17-21)

MEDITATION:
What are your thoughts about being a slave? We can read about
slavery in the Bible and there were times when slavery was common
in America as well. There are still forms of slavery in other countries
where people are controlled, oppressed and suppressed by their ‘slave
masters’.

Being a slave means having certain limitations which are determined
and defined by our ‘slave master’. Slaves can have either good or bad
‘slave masters’. A good slave master considers the slave as a person of
value, but a bad slave master does not. The bad slave master’s main
concern is controlling the individual, and making them do what he
or she wants.

The good slave master treats the slaves kindly and achieves the same
results (maybe even better) as the bad slave master. The good master
He attends to the slaves’ needs, protects them and is concerned about
their peace and happiness. Those who have a bad master would be
thrilled to be traded to a good master.

When we think about all the issues of being a slave, it makes sense that
Paul would include slavery as a type of ‘visual’ in his message. We have
the freedom of choosing which slave master will be in control of our lives.
The scriptures make it clear that we only have two choices.

Our two choices are:
        (1) the slave master of sin,
    or
        (2) the slave Master of righteousness.
We will always be under the control of one or the other, but not both.

Paul reminds us that we begin life as slaves to sin, but we are given the
choice to change and become slaves to righteousness. He tells us that if
we remain under the control of the slave master of sin, we will continue
to remain impure, and our thirst for sin and wickedness will increase.
At some point, we will decide that we have little, or no room for any
righteousness in our lives.

Our original slave master (Satan) can convince us that we are not
totally wicked but we are good citizens with some goof traits. He
wants us to believe that we might have a few ‘hang-ups’ that keep
us from being totally righteous, but that’s okay. If he can convince
us that to have ‘just a little bit of righteousness’, then we become
easy prey for him to lead us deeper into unrighteousness.

ACTION:
How do you personally feel about worshipping with other believers?
Have you completely yielded to your new Master, or do you still allow
the old master to control portions of your life? Remember Paul has
told us that we cannot be controlled by two masters. Jesus has told
us the same thing.
    “No one can serve two masters. Either you will
     hate the one and love the other, or you will be
     devoted to the one and despise the other. “
     (Matthew 6:24a)

It is a lie that is too easily accepted by those who remain controlled
by their natural desires, as slaves to sin. The longer we are slaves to
an evil master, the higher the probability that we will never make a
conscious effort to change and become a slave to the good Master,
even though we have been told of the devastating consequences for
our choices.

If we fail to change masters, we can fall into a dangerous rut and
develop a mindset that leads to our ultimate death (not dying, but
suffering unimaginable torture and separation from God, the One
who truly loves us and wants us to be a part of His family).
    Note:
    Someone has said that a “rut” is a “grave with both ends kicked out”.
    That’s’ s a good description of the journey for those who choose to
    remain under the control of an unrighteous slave master.

The good news from Paul is, we can change slave masters! The slaves
in our world did not have the luxury of changing, but we do! We don’t
have to remain in an unrighteous slavery to sin and its consequences.
We can change our allegiance from the ‘bad master’, to the ‘good Master’.

Paul appeals to our logical reasoning of being a slave to sin when he asks,
    What benefit did you reap at that time
    from the things you are now ashamed of?
    (Romans 6:21a)
Then he answers his own question,
    Those things result in death!
    (Romans 6:21b)

He doesn’t list a single benefit of remaining a slave to unrighteousness,
but points out the ultimate result of this choice, which is death. Then
Paul reminds us of the benefits for believers who have become slaves
to righteousness:
    But now that you have been set free from sin and
    have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap
    leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
    (Romans 6:22)

Paul makes it clear that being a slave to one will lead to death, but
being a slave to the other will lead to life – eternal life. If we discard
the details of the two choices and only look at the end results, we can
easily see and understand which choice is the best for us to make, can’t
we? If we choose not to make a choice, then by default we have made
our choice (which is to remain a slave to sin).

We may want to break free from our original ‘slave master’,
but are unwilling to humbly yield control of our lives to the
good Master who loves us. We may see the benefits and have
a desire to change, but we have a struggle with relinquishing
control of our lives. That doesn’t sound like someone who has
chosen to be a slave to anyone, does it? Failure to change does
not result in freedom, it means remaining a slave to the wrong
master.

Who is your slave master right now? Have you left your original
master and started obeying your new Master? Are you trying to
obey both masters, but feel that you are leaning toward your
Master of righteousness? Paul says we can’t do that; we can’t
be a slave to both.

Satan will try to convince you that you can be a slave to both, but
God is a jealous God and His desire is that your allegiance is to Him
one hundred percent. Does that mean you will not fail at times? No,
but it does mean that your primary desire and focus is to yield to His
control of your life.

When you leave your original master and begin your journey with your
new Master, you will find that instead of filling your mind with jealousy,
resentment, anger, jealousy, lust, etc., you can start enjoying a life with
less conflicts, anxieties, sadness, tension and depression. In addition, you
will discover that your life will count for something. Instead of continuing
a life of selfishness, you will develop a new attitude of selflessness in the
same manner of Jesus.

If you continue to live your life under your own control, then you have
made a choice to remain a slave under your original slave master. You
have decided that being under control of a new Master is not what you
want, so by default you still have your old master.

You know the ultimate benefit of changing slave masters, but there are
other benefits along the way. You will enjoy the feeling of living a new
and exciting life where boredom will melt away, and you have become
a new and vibrant person with new hopes and expectations which have
made life more exciting because you now have a purpose for living.

When we ‘meekly’ yield to our new Master, we will begin to ‘inherit
the earth’ of good things, which God has made available to those who
have chosen to trust Him.
    Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
    (Matthew 5:5)

Most of us can remember that as a child (under the control of our
original master), we sometimes dreaded (and maybe even resented)
our parents taking them to church. However, when we made a
choice to change the master who would be in control of our lives,
we discovered the enjoyment of worshipping with other believers,
and looked forward to the times we could get together.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to yield to You this day
and every day. My desire is to give to You all of my
innermost thoughts. My choice is to leave my old
master and completely yield to You. Living under
the control of my old master leads to death, but
yielding to You means life both now and eternally.
Trying to live under the control of two masters is
impossible and it makes my life miserable. I want
to start experiencing the blessings You provide for
those who have chosen to no longer remain slaves
to unrighteousness, but have become new slaves of
righteousness, with You as my Master. You know the
challenges when changing masters, and you have
given me the Holy Spirit to help me in transforming
from being a slave of unrighteous to becoming a new
slave of righteousness. Thank You for loving me, and
sanctifying me, so I will become the person You want
me to be.”

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