Who Is Your Master?

"They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity - for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning." - 2 Peter 2:19-20

There are two kinds of slaves - willing and unwilling. You and I as Christians submit willingly to our master, Jesus/God. We do, or should do, everything He commands us to do. That's a tough one for many people. Even for those who believe. But that must be our desire. We are willing slaves.

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and not do what I say?" - Like 6:46

There are also unwilling slaves. We fought the Civil War to free unwilling slaves. Most were captured, against their will, and sold into slavery. There are still unwilling slaves in the world today.

Today's picture is of some present day slaves over in China making clothes you and I to wear. They are Uighurs. Have we looked into where we buy things? Probably not. Are we then unknowingly supporting slavery? Probably.

Go back to what Peter said. "People are slaves to whatever has mastered them." What masters slave owners? Money. Power. Self.

What does Jesus command us to be? In the Book of Matthew He tells us that "the greatest in His Kingdom will be the servant of all."

"The greatest among you shall be your servant." - Matthew 23:11

Paul warns us against the love of money saying "it is the root of all evil."

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." - 1 Timothy 6:10

A willing slave will do whatever his master tells him to do. Do WE do that? We say 'yes' but do we really? Do we 'love our enemies?' Or do we kill them? Do we claim faith in Christ yet vote for people who support the killing of babies? Do we skip worshipping God so we can set up our tailgate party at Lambeau?

Bob Dylan wrote, "It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody."

Who do I serve? Is it my bank account? Is it my job? Is it my own selfish desires? Or is it God?

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

Joshua had it figured out.