The 24-Hour Boss

 

Luke 17: 7-10 (NIV): Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'

I think sometimes we get things turned around in our heads. We believe that we are God's boss, telling him what to do and using him for our purposes. That's backward. God is our creator and, when we become believers, our Lord. Jesus' illustration shows what that means.

A boss tells you what to do eight hours per day, then the rest of the day is yours, but a lord owns you. He tells you what to do all day, every day. You work for him all day long, then when evening comes, you serve him first before you sit down to eat. Then you put away the dishes and clean up the house before you rest. Then it begins again the next day.

A servant has no rights. He is owned by his master. He cannot serve half-heartedly, and he should expect no praise for doing extra duty. That's just simply his reality day after day.

You may read this and think you don't want to have a lord. You don't want someone to own you. But here's the irony of the Christian faith: being owned by God sets you free! Yes, he is our Lord and we belong to him 24-hours per day, but Jesus promises rest for the weary (Matthew 11: 28-30). When we turn our rights over to him and let him make our decisions, we find a peace, comfort and rest that we could never have without him. We are owned by a gentle King who knows what is best for us and gives it freely. A King who loves us unconditionally – so much he died and rose again for us.

The reality is that we are all owned by something. We all have a master. We are all slaves to something. Jesus said if you sin you are a slave to sin (John 8: 34-36). God gives us the choice to make him our Lord, and when we do we find a freedom we never knew before.