As Paul the
apostle continued to give instructions to the “servants” who
were within the church of Ephesus, he told them they should “be
obedient to” their “masters according to the flesh”, and
they were not to “serve” with “eye-service, as
men-pleasers”. They were rather to “do the will of God
from the heart” and in chapter six and verse seven of his
letter, Paul exhorted “servants” to do their “service
as to the Lord” where we read:
With good
will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
The
verse begins, “With good will doing service,...” Paul
began with the words, “With good will” which refers to
“benevolence, kindness, euphemism and conjugal duty” “doing
service” which means “slavery, obedience, submission and
yielded obedience”. “Servants” were to “benevolently
and kindly” serve their “masters”.
The
verse continues, “...as to the Lord, and not to men:” Paul
added, “as to the Lord” who is “the anointed One, the
Messiah and the Son of God” “and not” or “in contrast
to, never, neither and without” “to men” which refers to
“human beings whether male or female”. Rather than simply
“serving” people, the Christian “servants”
within the church in Ephesus were to “serve” as though
they were serving Jesus Himself.
When
we consider these words of Paul, we once again reference the idea of
“employees” to “employers” to relate to the “servants”
and “masters” thought. “Employees” or “servants”
of others are to “do” their “service” work as though
it is for Jesus. Christians demonstrate the love and passion of Jesus
Christ when they work before others as though Jesus was their “boss”.
Oh how differently the the world would be if only people “served”
Jesus instead of their “bosses” or “boss”. May the Lord Jesus
bring conviction into our hearts through His Holy Spirit if we stray
from Paul's idea, and may we align ourselves in front of Jesus and
“serve” others as though He were there.
Next
time Paul gives one final instruction to “servants”,
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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