Bound By Love, Serving With It

¹⁶ And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. -- Deuteronomy 15:16-17

Ouch right? This is what is required of a bondservant. The word forever here comes from the same Hebrew word meaning eternity or perpetual. So how does this apply to us non-ancient non-Israeli Christians? To the new testament! away! *adventurous theme music*


Lets start with any greeting in the epistles (I'm not going to type them out but just list a few): Romans 1:1, Phil 1:1, Titus 1:1, James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1 and Jude 1:1.

Ok, but still what about us? Well first I want to go back to Deuteronomy and explain this process a little more in depth. You see this wasn't just an ear piercing. If you don't know what an awl looks like just google it really quickly... Not exactly what you were thinking was it? You see when this servant said hey I love you I want to stay he would then put his ear to the door post and they would punch this awl through his ear (i picture the ear lobe but who knows where it was) and the servant now leaves behind a piece of his ear and it is forever on the door post of his master. Now whenever the servant walks the streets people see he is missing part of his ear and they know this man (or woman) truly loves their master. So how does this NOT apply to us?

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." See losing part of your ear is a sacrifice even if its a "small" one. So what's our piece of ear? Our sinful lifestyles, and our selfish desires. Here's what Romans 6 has to say

Romans 6:6 "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."

Romans 6:16-23 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." By the way the word here slave is the Greek equivalent of the word "servant" in Deuteronomy

So what are you doing as a Christian? Are you a Bondservant? or are you just in it for the fun, and as soon as it gets hard you drop Jesus like a load of rocks? God calls us to be "slaves to righteousness" not buddies; not Distant acquaintances but Slaves to Righteousness. Ask God where you are, compare yourself to the scriptures and make the necessary changes.

God Bless