Walk, Don't Run!
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
"...as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk... Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it..." (I Corinthians 7:17,21).
Some Christians find it troubling that the Bible counsels slaves to be content in their difficult circumstances, and walk in obedience to their masters rather than run away from them in rebellion (Eph.
6:5; Col. 3:22). But there were legitimate reasons why men were slaves
in those days, and God has never been in favor of freeing "a lawful
captive" from his owner (Isa. 49:24).
The Apostle Paul did tell slaves, "if thou mayest be made free, use it rather"
(I Cor. 7:21). For example, if a man was a slave because he was working
off his financial debts, if someone offered to pay his debts, this was
benevolence that no servant should ignore. But if there was no
legitimate means by which a servant could be made free, it was God's
will that he walk in the calling wherewith he had been called (I Cor.
7:17).
Of course, unbelievers think that this is terrible advice,
and they aren't shy about criticizing the Bible for not encouraging
slaves to run away from their masters. But that's because they're
thinking of the kind of slavery that existed in the early days of our
country, when innocent people were kidnapped from Africa and brought here as slaves to serve in an illegitimate form of bondage. This type of slavery is condemned in
Scripture, and those who dared perpetrate it in Israel were given the
death penalty (Ex. 21:16). Yet even when men were kidnapped and
wrongfully enslaved, Paul's advice to be content in servitude was good
counsel, for often it was just not possible for slaves to escape
bondage, and God does not wish His children to live lives of abject
frustration and misery.
But
if you are thinking that it is equally impossible to "care not" for
being a slave, consider the counsel that Paul went on to give servants
in the very next verse,
"For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman..." (I Cor. 7:22).
The key to finding contentment as a slave was to remember that believing
slaves were free men in the eyes of the Lord. In other words, the
secret to being content in the harsh circumstances of bondage was for
servants to look past their circumstances and focus on how God
saw them in Christ. That is, when slaves couldn't change their
circumstances, the key to contentment was to change how they thought about their circumstances.
Now, is there anything you can learn from that about your difficult
circumstances? Sometimes our situation in life can't be changed any
more than a slave could change his. Of course, if there is a
legitimate means by which you might be made free from your difficulties,
by all means do what Paul told slaves to do with such an opportunity
and "use it." But if you can't change your circumstances, why not follow
Paul's advice and change the way you think about them?
If
life has you feeling like a captive for whom there is no escape, never
lose sight of the spiritual reality that you are "the Lord's freeman."
Focusing on the problems that have you feeling imprisoned will only make
you as miserable as the slave who focused on his. Focusing on "the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" (Gal. 5:1) is the only path
to rejoicing.
It's the secret of life.
There
is only way to be SAVED 1. Corinthian 15;1 - 4 Christ died for our
sins was buried and rose again the third day. Believe this from you
heart and you will have eternal life.
SO GREAT SALVATION!{Click}
SO GREAT SALVATION!{Click}
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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