Prisoner part 2
Let's talk about the love slave. I love (see what I did there?) to bring this up every now and then, because it's so powerful. It's in the book of Exodus, chapter 21. I'm going to cherry pick a verse here and there to cut down on it a little bit. Verse 2, "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing." A servant. A slave. A prisoner, if we can use that terminology. Back in those days you got him for six years and then had to let him go. Jump down to verses 5 and 6. "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever." Now let's get to the really good part. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9). Nailing our ear to the door--because we love our Master and don't want to leave Him--is precisely what John did at the Last Supper. He laid his head on Jesus' breast (John 13:25), and he heard the heartbeat of God. And that, I believe, is why John referred to himself in his gospel as "the disciple that Jesus loved." He heard that love beating in God's heart because he nailed his ear to the door. Because he made a conscious choice to forego the world and lay hold of what he had been given by his heavenly Father. It's like Deuteronomy 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." I always liked this verse because God gives us the question... and the answer. You can have life or death. Your call. But, hey, you know... choose life. He doesn't force His way upon us. He makes it available to us. And nudges us in the right direction. "You served your time. You can go free." I don't want to go anywhere. There's nowhere better than here. This is where I belong. This is where I want to be. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). We all have choices. And we always have choices. You can try to conform to the world if you want to. Nobody's stopping you. Even way back in the garden of Eden God TOLD Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death), He TOLD Adam what would happen if Adam ate from that tree... but He didn't stop Adam. He gave us a measure of free will. But just because you CAN do something doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD do it. When there's a more excellent way--who's name is Jesus... love--we really ought to choose it. It's available to us. It's at hand. All we have to do is receive it. Nail our ear to the door so we can hear the heartbeat of God. Listen to that still, small voice that is deep inside of us and let love guide our path. Either way Christ's love controls us. We might as well enjoy what that love has given to us--what that love IS--by receiving it... and releasing it!