OBLIGATORY SERVITUDE VS. BOND SERVANT

Have you ever heard (or said!), “Welllll, as much as I hate to, I guess I had better get my Sunday School Lesson together,” or “Mannnn … I wish the Church Work Day wasn’t this week, but I signed up for it so I guess I’ll have to go.” 

       There are many of us who, when faced with doing God’s work, find it a necessary evil that we feel obligated to accomplish.  At that point we have to wonder, “Are we really Servants of God?”

       This would probably be an excellent time to have a little Vocabulary Lesson.  So, to ensure that we all are on the same page, let’s take a look at a few of the words we are discussing:

       Obligatory – Required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory.

       Servitude – The state of being a slave or completely subject to someone more powerful.

       Bond Servant – In Roman times, the term bondservant or slave could refer to someone who voluntarily served others. But it usually referred to one who was held in a permanent position of servitude. Under Roman law, a bondservant was considered the owner’s personal property. I chose this definition of Bond Servant because of the phrase “someone who voluntarily serves others.”  So, let’s take a look at the segments of our title based on these definitions:

       Obligatory Servitude – Completing compulsory tasks as a slave.

       Bond Servant – One who voluntarily serves another.

       I think you probably see where I am going with this – – Do you serve God as Obligatory Servitude, or do you serve Him as a Bond Servant?  I will give you a few moments to cogitate on this before I continue:

       Dooo Dooo Dooo Dooo de Dooo Dooo Dooo … Dooo Dooo Dooo … OK, I think that is time enough!  

       What we need to understand is if you are serving God out of Obligatory Servitude you are trying to “work” your way into Heaven and, trust me, according to THE BIBLE, that isn’t going to cut it! Rather, we need to Voluntarily Serve God out of our Love for Him.  This should find us anxiously waiting for, and actively pursuing, every opportunity that we can to Serve Him!

       While these two can sometimes be hard to distinguish as they seem to overlap and be surrounded by a cloud of confusion, there is one sure way to determine which path you are pursuing:  Obligatory Servitude or that of Bond Servant.  All you have to do is ask which of these phases you use most often regarding God’s Work:

“I have to teach Sunday School this week.”

       OR

“I get to teach Sunday School this week.”

Pretty simple, isn’t it?

       The GOOD NEWS is all it takes to ensure that we are a Bond Servant and not responding to God due to Obligatory Servitude is a change of attitude!  Like any best friend we have, we should serve Jesus because we Love Him and not just because we feel that He demands it!

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