SLAVE OR SERVANT?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

Proverbs 17:2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today’s proverb highlights the importance of servitude as it applies to our lives both now and eternally and I pray we all come away enlightened and motivated by it. That’s the task I have before me as I write this devotion and show you how God’s word speaks to us on the matter of servitude.

Now on the surface, this verse appears hard to understand and get a grasp of. At times such as this, I have always found it helpful to look at a verse across multiple translations as I feel it always helps to bring things into better focus as to what the Lord is trying to relay. Here’s this particular verse from six other bibles:

A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully, and will share the inheritance as one of the family. (NRSV)

A wise servant will rule over the master’s disgraceful son and will share the inheritance of the master’s children. (NLT)

A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame and will share an inheritance among the brothers. (NKJV)

A shrewd servant will gain authority over a master's worthless son and receive a part of the inheritance. (GNT)

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. (ESV)

A hard-working slave will be placed in charge of a no-good child, and that slave will be given the same inheritance that each child receives. (CEV)

We can read these words quickly and think they only applied to a Jewish family in the day of Solomon, providing a stern warning to children who chose to act shamefully, those who prove to be worthless and no good. Their folly, discrediting their parents and their God, would have harsh consequences as they would find themselves subordinate to their parent’s servants, those considered to be at the lowest level of society and outside of receiving any bequeath.

Now, it wasn’t impossible for a servant to elevate themselves to a position of honor. You can go back to the account of Abraham’s life and find him believing that his servant Eliezer would be his heir since he had no son to pass his inheritance to (Genesis 15:2-3). Ziba, a servant of the king  Mephibosheth, was given everything that belonged to the king by David (2 Samuel 16:1-4). Finally, Joseph, sold off into slavery by his own brothers, found himself rise from servanthood in Egypt to being a governor (or in some translations a prince) over the land (Genesis 42:6). It didn’t happen all the time but it was possible. Wise servants did have a chance to rule!

So what in the world does this have to do with you and me today? What is the Lord trying to say to us about the way we are supposed to live today?

The answer lies in looking at the matter of wise and prudent servitude and the benefit it brings.

The first matter to realize is that the Hebrew word for servant and slave is the same (ebed). This is why we see the word used interchangeably in the translations of this verse. But if you really consider the two words, they have a different connotation altogether, one that I think is critical when we consider our relationship with the One who offers the rich spiritual inheritance we seek.

I say this because when we think of the word “slave” we will see the word servant relative to it but it isn’t the other way around when we look at the word “servant”.

It’s true, isn’t it?

Hopefully as a believer in Jesus Christ, you see yourself as a servant. You are called to serve others self sacrificially as you live your life as Jesus lived, carrying out His great commission to make disciples of all nations, to baptize, and teach them to obey all He commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus served and to be like Him, believers need to serve as well.

This can be our faith attitude as Christians but let me take this to a whole different level. For being a servant and feeling a call to serve is one thing. Being a slave is another.

Servants don’t think about being slaves. The Hebrew word is the same in this verse but it takes on different levels of meaning depending on the side you choose to identify your life purpose and define the associated accountability. To see yourself as a slave vice just a servant elevates what the Lord is saying here to a much higher plane and a significantly higher culpability.

I say this because a slave has no rights. They are expected to completely be subordinate to their master. There are no other options. The master tells the slave what they will do and the slave does it without question. And the slaves sole survival lies in the hands of their master who provides them shelter and provision in exchange for their complete obedience and submission to their master’s will.

A servant can have a choice as to how and when they serve. A slave has no other option than to do the will of their master.

This is how we need to see our relationship with Jesus. It’s time to not water down where we are in relationship with Him. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has been given authority over all mankind by God the Father, who Jesus is one with. He is the Ruler and Judge of mankind and that will be on full display when He returns. And He is Master over all of us because of this supreme authority He holds.

With this, there is no more proper attitude for us to have before Him than that of a slave, fully committed and ready to carry out the Master’s will and way. For He and He alone holds the key to life for us, now and forever. A wise slave sees this and sacrifices their life fully to the Master, entrusting all that they are and all that they have to the Master’s care, believing and trusting that they will gain an amazingly rich inheritance and be considered a part of the Master’s family through their wise and prudent choice to submit to Him unabashedly with no reservation and no restriction.

With all this, I ask:

How do you see yourself in your relationship to Jesus Christ: servant or slave?

For me, it will always be as a slave to the only Master that counts, my Savior, Redeemer, and Master, Jesus Christ. To Him be all honor and glory and praise forever and ever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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