Day 84: How Do We Become a “Pierced Ear Bond-Slave”?
In Christ, we have truly been set free. The question before us is not, “Are we really free?”—We are! The real question is, “What will we do with our freedom?” Do we love our Master enough to trust Him if we give up our “freedom” for Him and turn our freedom over to Him?
John 8:31–36
Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
8:33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
8:34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. 8:35 The slave does not remain in the family forever, but the son remains forever.
8:36 So if the son sets you free, you will be really free.
Picking up where we left off yesterday, Jesus has set us free. As we said then, we are going to be exploring more of what this means in our next study unit. Freedom, as it is developed in the Scriptures, is not “doing whatever we want to.” Instead, freedom is defined has being free from something in order to be free for/to something. Take note of what Jesus says: “everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin.” In Christ we have been set free from the power and enslavement of sin. This enables us to know the Truth and be truly free or “free indeed!”
If you look on the previous page at the Galatians 5:1, you see that the purpose of Jesus setting us free was for freedom. He then says to “stand firm” and not be subject to slavery again. This implies that Jesus has set us so free that we could abuse that freedom. So what will we do with our freedom?
In Deuteronomy, the Lord gives instruction about the releasing of debts and slaves every seventh year. In this cycle of seven years, the Lord was establishing His righteous and gracious way of dealing, so that no one in the nation of Israel would become enslaved to another forever. In this passage we hear:
Deuteronomy 15:12-17
If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 15:13 And when you let him go free from you, … You shall furnish him liberally… As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15:15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
15:16 But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 15:17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same.
A slave who had been set free in this seventh year had the option of actually renouncing his freedom and becoming a permanent servant of the master (15:16-17). The master would then pierce the slave’s ear with an awl to signify his permanent servitude. Take note of why the slave would give up his freedom voluntarily: because he loved the master and the masters house (family). This type of “slave” was often called a “bond-slave.”
“Slave” is not a particularly popular or politically correct term. However, the Scriptures use the term in a powerful way to communicate a powerful relationship. Because of negative connotations, many modern translations translate the term as “servant” instead of slave. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when we think of Jesus as Lord/Master and ourselves as “slave” we are stating something very powerful about our relationship with Him.
In Christ, we have truly been set free. The question before us is not, “Are we really free?”—We are! The real question is, “What will we do with our freedom?” Do we love our Master enough to trust Him if we give up our “freedom” for Him and turn our freedom over to Him?
Jesus has truly set us free. He has set us free to give you the opportunity to express your love and gratitude to Him by voluntarily choosing to become one of His bond-slaves. Remember, it is our ability to say “no” to God that makes our “yes” so meaningful.
The Apostles themselves use this term as a primary part of their identity: “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle…(Romans 1:1), James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1), Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ…(2 Peter 1:1), Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James (Jude 1:1). These men had been set free and they were more than happy to be “enslaved” to Christ Jesus. As we too allow ourselves to be captivated by Christ, He truly sets us free indeed! (see John 8:34-38)
Becoming “enslaved” to Christ is not something that we can be manipulated or forced into. The only way to give ourselves fully to Christ is joyously out of our love for Him.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
