Whose Chains Do You Wear?

Sunday a week ago a young man with whom I have developed a great friendship came up to me after the early morning worship service. He had recently celebrated a birthday, and was in the middle of his football season. As always I offered him a fist bump for a greeting and began to ask how he was doing. I asked all about his birthday and what he had be given for that special day. I also asked him how the football season was going and if he was enjoying himself in the sport. After all this frivolous chit-chat he looked at me and said, “Pastor Josh, you know how much I love Jesus?” I naturally responded with, “how much?” He then told me something that I will never forget; he said, “I love Jesus so much I will be His slave.” WOW! What do we say to this kind of commitment to Christ?

As much as I hate to admit it I think this young man may have an understanding of what it means to be one of God’s children that even the most revered church members do not possess. Sure we have church statesmen that are trusted leaders. We also can claim that we have “godly” teachers who know the Bible and explain it so eloquently. But we rarely hear someone claim that they will be a slave to Christ. Such a commitment means that we give up all rights to our own life handing them over permanently to the Lord. We no longer merely aspire to be successful in our own endeavors in a civilized way, but we only pursue the endeavors that the Lord lays before us. We can no longer be satisfied with knowing what the Bible says and being able to explain it clearly, but must obey it out of a sense of duty to our master and His glory (yes I said duty). We are compelled to lose our very identity as others begin to see Christ in us.

I have to agree with the old saying that we are all a slave to something. I wonder today whose chains do you wear? Are you bound by the shackles of this world seeking to advance yourself in your career, build a large retirement nest egg, and be known by many for great success? Do you wear the chains of some other person (known or unknown to him/her) who you envy or long to obtain approval? Or are you irresistibly enslaved to Christ who loved you enough to suffer and die for your forgiveness; who rescued you from the domain of darkness that you might be made a child of the King; who offers you an easy yoke and an light load?

May we all as God’s children have the insight of that second-grader and be willing to daily deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and live as slaves whose master is the King of kings.

In Christ,

Pastor Josh