Approval & Servanthood

“…each is tested by the praise accorded him.” Proverb 27:21b

I read this verse earlier in the week and it caused me to pause. We all know that trials are a testing of our faith. I’d never focused on this little phrase in Proverbs. Praise can also be a test. How will I handle it? What do I do with it? Do I horde it as my due or hand it all back to Him?

Fast on the heals of this revelation came the verse below from a study I’m working on through the summer.

“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."

I did the prescribed study, dutifully answered the questions and then went on to do some additional word studies. It’s been a good week trysting with my Lord. Let me share.

Am I seeking to gain favor (win over, yield) of men or God? What do my actions show? What causes me the most anxiety in my day to day life? I don’t want to be a big JERK, but neither do I wan to be overly concerned about what men think of me. I need to seek approval, favor, and assurance from God.

Am I striving to please men? Am I intentionally, deliberately, continually seeking to be acceptable and accommodating to men?

If I am, then I am not a bondservant of Christ. I’ve committed to being a bondservant of Christ. Our society has lost track of what it means to be a servant in daily life. A bondservant is in a permanent relationship with the master. A bondservant is totally consumed by and with the will of another. He has no rights outside of the master’s will. He has no possessions of his own.

It was a CHOICE to be a bondservant. After serving a household for 6 years as a slave, a servant would decide of his OWN FREE WILL if he wished to remain a slave to his master. There were three reasons a person chose to become the bondservant of another. He loved the master, he loved the master’s household and he fared well with the master. (Deut. 15:12 – 18). At this point the person would be branded/marked to signify the permanent relationship with the master. As a side note, there were three classes of people marked in the New Testament times: slaves, soldiers, servants of temples. As Christians we are called to be all three (I Cor 3:16-17, I Cor 7:21-23, Matt 10:24 – 25, I cor 3:21-4:7, I Cor 6:19-20, Gal 1:10). THAT little tidbit is a nice study all on it’s own.

A bondservant was marked by having his ear pierced. Paul says his beatings and stonings marked him as a bondservant (Gal 6:17). My life should also be marked – by transformation. I am called to join Christ in suffering…..I am marked as HIS by that suffering for HIS SAKE (again not because of general jerkiness on my part).

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©2008 D.R.G.