As Peter the
apostle continued to give instructions to the “scattered”
Christians concerning their behavior, he told them to “submit”
themselves “to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake”
whether it be to the “king as supreme” or unto
“governors” because though they were “free”
they were not to use their “liberty” as a “cloak”
for evil but rather as a witness for Jesus Christ. In chapter two and
verse eighteen Peter shares more specifically concerning “servants”
being “subject” to their “masters” where we
read:
not only
to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
The
verse begins, “Servants, be
subject to your
masters with all fear;” Peter
began with the word, “Servants”
which refers to “ones who live in the
same house as another, spoken of all who are under the authority of
one and the same householder or domestic”
“be subject”
or “arranged under, subordinate, yielding to one's admonition or
advice and obedient” “to your
masters”
which refers to “an absolute ruler, despot or lord” “with
all fear”
which means “with each, any, the whole and every dread, that which
strikes terror and reverence”. Those Christians who were servants
to others were to be subordinate to their masters with all reverence
and respect.
The
verse goes on to say, “not only to the good and gentle, but also
to the froward.” Peter added, “not only” or “alone”
“to the good” which means “of good constitution, nature,
salutary, pleasant, agreeable, joyful and happy” “and gentle”
or “suitable, equitable, fair and mile”, “but” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was previously written, “moreover,
nevertheless and notwithstanding” “also” or “even and
indeed” “to the froward” which literally means “crooked
and curved” and metaphorically means “perverse, wicked, unfair
and surly”. The Christians were not only to be “subject”
to the masters who treated them well, but also to masters who were
ruthless, crooked, perverse and wicked.
When
we meditate upon these words of Peter, we may find ourselves
resistant to obeying them. Yet, the Lord Jesus, through Peter, gave
His direction for how “servants” which in our day would be
“employees” are to respect their “masters” or
“employers” today. The interesting part of this directive is that
Peter gave no deference to how “servants” were to be to
“masters” who were “good” and those who were bad. The
idea was for Christians to live in respect of their bosses which is
in contrast to the normal way “servants” are to their
masters. May we come to know exactly how the Lord Jesus desires for
us to be as employees, and may those around us see a difference in
the way we act before our bosses.
Next
time Peter shares about enduring “grief”
and “suffering wrongfully”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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