Are you a slave of Christ?

I just finished a book called "Slave" by John MacArthur. A great read and very informative. I found it very interesting that as the the scriptures were translated into English some of the meaning of certain words has been lost. For example the word slave appears 124 times in the original greek text but it is correctly translated only once in the King James version of the scriptures. Instead of using slave they choose the word servant in its place. In the old testament the word for slave in Hebrew appears 799 times as a noun and another 290 times as a verb. Again it is translated in the King James version as servant or manservant the majority if the time. At this point you may be thinking..."yeah so what"? This is a big deal for your understanding of what following Christ means. You see if you are a servant of Christ you have a choice. You can come and go as you choose. Serve when you want and not serve when you don not want to or feel like it. When you are a slave of Christ there is not a choice. The scripture says:



1 Corinthians 6:20

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.



A slave is bought, a servant is paid for services. When we accept Christ we willfully become slaves of Christ. Think about that this morning. Do you see why understanding that the use of the word servant compared to slave, the meaning is much different? In today's times slave have a negative meaning but when we are serving Christ it does not because we have a loving master who desires our service and worship. I am humbled to be the slave of Christ! I am not worthy but am very thankful to do so.



Don't read this devotion lightly, take time to think about what being a slave of Christ should mean in your life!





Colossians 4:1

1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.



A bondservant is a slave.



Tom