Master part 5
It's not what we do FOR God. It's what He does THROUGH us. And that's the difference, to me, between the slave mentality and the Son mentality. Jesus said He lives BY the Father. And in the same way we live by Him. He lives in and through and as us. He's not our boss, He's our life. It's the difference between religion (Do what I say or else) and relationship (The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands). But here's the deal; its up to us. We can believe whatever we want to. We can DO whatever we want to. And in so doing (so believing) we choose to "serve" whoever we want to. Before the cross there was really no choice. We were sinners (unbelievers) because we didn't have anything to believe in. That's why Jesus came to the earth! He came to show us the Father. To show us what God really looks like. To show us who our "master" is and how He operates. And in four words I can sum it up like this, "Christ's love controls us" (2 Corinthians 5:14 NLT). Did you catch that? It's not the FEAR of an angry God that controls us. It's the unconditional love of our heavenly Father. And the "control" isn't, "You have to do this, this, and this. You have to jump through these religious hoops and then I'll love you." The control is... staying in control. Letting the love that fills us to overflowing guide and direct our path. That's what the Bible means when it says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). The Word is Jesus. The Word is love! Love is the light of the world. Love IS our path! (Or our Way, if I can say it that way.) It's all about love. Love is our master. And He "controls" us--not by demanding love--by filling us with love. We love because He first loved us. The world wants to take take take. And in the world, no matter how much you get, there's always one thing you lack. Because there's nothing in the world that can satisfy a Spiritual creature. The desire of our heart (to be loved) can only be satisfied by the God who IS love. You can only find love at the source. "Serving" mammon, or the world, is really just looking for love in all the wrong places. "Serving" God--letting HIM serve you--is letting Him love you so that you can love Him (by loving others) with that same love. See, it's not about what you do FOR God. God is totally self-sufficient. He doesn't NEED anything. He said, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 50:12). It's not about what we can do for Him. It's about what HE did for us. The cross. The Six Steps to the Throne. Dying so we could die and then living so we could live! Our "master" is not one who expects anything from us other than what He has provided FOR us. He doesn't demand love from us. He gave love to us... so that we could love. He equipped and empowered us to live by Him. To let Him live through us. Not us trying to be Jesus, but Jesus being Himself in and through and as us. Not a master and a slave, but a Father and His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased!