"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an
apostle." (Romans l:l)
"It's my life. It's my business how I live. Nobody
has the right to butt into my affairs." That is a common
view of life. True, it is your life, but is it, really? You did
not create it. You did not ask to be born. You came into a
world that already existed. So why are you here? What is
the purpose of your life?
Your life is not really your own, to do with as you
please. And if your life is not your own, to whom then
does it belong?
The apostle Paul had a ready answer. He
declared that he was a "servant of Jesus Christ". The
word is not really servant, it is slave. The world of that
day knew what it meant. There were menial slaves who
did the work in the kitchen and stables, and there were
educated slaves who were secretaries, managers of the
estate, and even teachers. But whatever a slave's work
was, he was bought and sold, controlled and
commanded, beaten and even killed at his master's beck
and call. Paul was glad that he was a bond servant of
Christ. He talked about it often, and he was ready to
boast about it. And with joy he sought to do what Christ
approved.
J. C. Ryle describes a Christian as a person of
"one thing". "He only sees one thing, he cares for one
thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one
thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he
lives, or whether he dies; whether he has health, or
whether he has sickness; whether he is rich, or whether
he is poor; whether he pleases man, or whether he gives
offence; whether he is thought wise, or whether he is
thought foolish; whether he gets blame, or whether he gets
praise; whether he gets honour, or whether he gets
shame, for all this, the zealous man cares nothing at all.
He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please
God, and to advance God's glory. If he is consumed in
the very burning, he cares not for it, he is content. He
feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if
consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which
God appointed him."
As Christians, we are "slaves of Christ". We are
not our own because we are owned. We are dependent
upon His grace, and we respond to that grace by seeking
to do what pleases Him. We ought to be people who
desire only to please God and to bring Him glory.
Let us remember that we belong to God. Let us
seek to be His instruments. Let us be willing to do those
things that please and honour Him.
In Christ,
Floyd McPhee 
