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Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
THE SLAVE
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
The Slave
By Jerry D. Ousley
In our modern age, when we hear the word “slave” we think of detestable things. For the black American, it holds stories of horror and often instills hate. For many years in the history of our country, black slaves were treated horribly. I am ashamed of that part of our history, for no man, woman or child should be subjected to such treatment. Thank God for that dreadful part of our history to be behind us. And while there are yet bigots and racists (and to be fair, these people exist on both sides of the fence), for the most part, we acknowledge equality.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, it seems there have always been those subjected to slavery. It isn’t just limited to the black race, but reading through history people were made slaves of all races and ethnic backgrounds. I read somewhere that in today’s world, even with the freedoms that have been experienced, more slaves exist than at any other time in history.
Slavery was commonly practiced in Biblical times, even in the New Testament. The rich had people made slaves of those considered to be of a lower class. They were owned property. Even as the Church was being formed and birthed by Christ into this world, those coming to Him were often slave owners and continued to own their slaves even after they were converted.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I in no way condone the act of owning another person. We are all created equal in the eyes of God and when we are cut, we all bleed red. Not one class of people is elevated above another. No amount of money makes one worthy of owning another human being. But that being said, slavery still existed in those days gone by.
A young man by the name of Onesimus was a slave. He was owned by a wealthy Christian by the name of Philemon. Philemon had become a Christian because of the preaching of Paul, and he had established a congregation in his house. Other than what Paul writes in his letter to Philemon, we don’t know much more about him.
What we do know from that one-chapter letter known as “Philemon” is that one of the man’s slaves, Onesimus, for whatever reason, was unhappy where he was. I can’t imagine that Philemon was cruel to Onesimus, at least not after his own conversion. Perhaps he was before, but not after. Onesimus hadn’t surrendered his own life to Christ before this letter. But somehow, he managed to escape from his owner and fled to Paul. Why? We aren’t told. But my guess is that, while Paul was with Philemon, helping to establish the Church where he lived, that Onesimus had come to respect Paul.
Paul was in prison for preaching the gospel and when Onesimus came to him, the Apostle was able to convince the slave to become a believer in Christ Jesus. While with Paul, he had become a valued helper. But by law, he still belonged to Philemon. So Paul wrote the letter we find in the Bible, to Philemon, explaining how Onesimus had come to Jesus Christ and was now more than property to Philemon – He was now a brother in Christ. Paul sent him back to Philemon expecting the man to accept and forgive Onesimus. Paul went on to say that if Onesimus had caused any financial distress that he would reimburse Philemon (but reminded him that he owed his own salvation to Paul’s preaching).
We aren’t told any more about Philemon or Onesimus, but I like to believe that the former slave returned to his master and that they became great friends and co-workers in the Church. We don’t know that but I’m allowed to speculate.
The point is that we are all in the same predicament as Onesimus. We find ourselves discouraged, angry, pained and downright disgusted with the life we have come to know. We can relocate our lives, whether we do that physically by moving to another location in order to find new beginnings, or if we do that in other ways. But still, there is no peace in our situation. We find ourselves trapped in slavery, maybe to a habit that is draining the life from us, or it could be a marital situation, or a condition in your life that makes you feel trapped. It seems no matter what you do there is no relief.
That’s when you run. Again, whether your flight is physical or a mental check-out, life makes you flee. When you do, there are two places you can go. You either go deeper in life’s despair, or you seek spiritual help.
You might blame God for the hand life has dealt you. It may feel like God has no consideration for you whatsoever. You may even have come to hate God because you have cried out and it seems that He hasn’t even heard you. But today, I want to tell you that He has heard you. In fact, for one reason or another, He has allowed you to come to the place you are right now. He has brought you to this very message and it just may become the turning point of your life.
You see, God wants you to repent. Even if you feel as though you are the victim and that you have done no wrong, we all have a need to repent. That word, “repent” means that you are ready to turn your life around. You have come to a place that you are willing to admit that you have made wrong choices, even if it has been the result of the abuse of someone else. Our hearts still harbor sin – Ill feelings towards those who have driven you to this point, or even regret for the choices you have made.
God has heard you and God wants to change your life. But in order to do that, you need to acknowledge Him. You need to accept Christ as your Savior. You need to tell God that you are sorry for your sin and you want to turn around – Turning around means that you repent.
When you do that, then, just like Onesimus, you become a new person. That old person who was rotten with bitterness, and slowly dying and slipping into oblivion, is made new in Jesus. Even though there are still things to overcome, new life begins to sprout inside you. You are no longer a slave to sin, but you have become a servant of God – Yes, still a servant but look what Jesus said about being God’s servant: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus was saying that, while you work yourself to death in sin, when you come to Him, His work (represented by the word yoke) is easy and the burden He gives you is light. Your burden of sin that weighs you down, breaking your back, is traded for the burden of Jesus Christ and it’s easy to carry.
We are all slaves to something. Without Christ we are slaves to this world. That ownership dooms us to eternal destruction in hell. But, when we repent, when we believe on Jesus Christ and have come to know that God has raised Him from the dead, we dedicate ourselves to Him and we become His servants. It’s a whole new thing – a new creation if you will. Now we work for the King of kings and LORD of lords. It’s like transforming from black and white into a land of color. We might still be a slave, but it no longer feels like it!
By Jerry D. Ousley
In our modern age, when we hear the word “slave” we think of detestable things. For the black American, it holds stories of horror and often instills hate. For many years in the history of our country, black slaves were treated horribly. I am ashamed of that part of our history, for no man, woman or child should be subjected to such treatment. Thank God for that dreadful part of our history to be behind us. And while there are yet bigots and racists (and to be fair, these people exist on both sides of the fence), for the most part, we acknowledge equality.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, it seems there have always been those subjected to slavery. It isn’t just limited to the black race, but reading through history people were made slaves of all races and ethnic backgrounds. I read somewhere that in today’s world, even with the freedoms that have been experienced, more slaves exist than at any other time in history.
Slavery was commonly practiced in Biblical times, even in the New Testament. The rich had people made slaves of those considered to be of a lower class. They were owned property. Even as the Church was being formed and birthed by Christ into this world, those coming to Him were often slave owners and continued to own their slaves even after they were converted.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I in no way condone the act of owning another person. We are all created equal in the eyes of God and when we are cut, we all bleed red. Not one class of people is elevated above another. No amount of money makes one worthy of owning another human being. But that being said, slavery still existed in those days gone by.
A young man by the name of Onesimus was a slave. He was owned by a wealthy Christian by the name of Philemon. Philemon had become a Christian because of the preaching of Paul, and he had established a congregation in his house. Other than what Paul writes in his letter to Philemon, we don’t know much more about him.
What we do know from that one-chapter letter known as “Philemon” is that one of the man’s slaves, Onesimus, for whatever reason, was unhappy where he was. I can’t imagine that Philemon was cruel to Onesimus, at least not after his own conversion. Perhaps he was before, but not after. Onesimus hadn’t surrendered his own life to Christ before this letter. But somehow, he managed to escape from his owner and fled to Paul. Why? We aren’t told. But my guess is that, while Paul was with Philemon, helping to establish the Church where he lived, that Onesimus had come to respect Paul.
Paul was in prison for preaching the gospel and when Onesimus came to him, the Apostle was able to convince the slave to become a believer in Christ Jesus. While with Paul, he had become a valued helper. But by law, he still belonged to Philemon. So Paul wrote the letter we find in the Bible, to Philemon, explaining how Onesimus had come to Jesus Christ and was now more than property to Philemon – He was now a brother in Christ. Paul sent him back to Philemon expecting the man to accept and forgive Onesimus. Paul went on to say that if Onesimus had caused any financial distress that he would reimburse Philemon (but reminded him that he owed his own salvation to Paul’s preaching).
We aren’t told any more about Philemon or Onesimus, but I like to believe that the former slave returned to his master and that they became great friends and co-workers in the Church. We don’t know that but I’m allowed to speculate.
The point is that we are all in the same predicament as Onesimus. We find ourselves discouraged, angry, pained and downright disgusted with the life we have come to know. We can relocate our lives, whether we do that physically by moving to another location in order to find new beginnings, or if we do that in other ways. But still, there is no peace in our situation. We find ourselves trapped in slavery, maybe to a habit that is draining the life from us, or it could be a marital situation, or a condition in your life that makes you feel trapped. It seems no matter what you do there is no relief.
That’s when you run. Again, whether your flight is physical or a mental check-out, life makes you flee. When you do, there are two places you can go. You either go deeper in life’s despair, or you seek spiritual help.
You might blame God for the hand life has dealt you. It may feel like God has no consideration for you whatsoever. You may even have come to hate God because you have cried out and it seems that He hasn’t even heard you. But today, I want to tell you that He has heard you. In fact, for one reason or another, He has allowed you to come to the place you are right now. He has brought you to this very message and it just may become the turning point of your life.
You see, God wants you to repent. Even if you feel as though you are the victim and that you have done no wrong, we all have a need to repent. That word, “repent” means that you are ready to turn your life around. You have come to a place that you are willing to admit that you have made wrong choices, even if it has been the result of the abuse of someone else. Our hearts still harbor sin – Ill feelings towards those who have driven you to this point, or even regret for the choices you have made.
God has heard you and God wants to change your life. But in order to do that, you need to acknowledge Him. You need to accept Christ as your Savior. You need to tell God that you are sorry for your sin and you want to turn around – Turning around means that you repent.
When you do that, then, just like Onesimus, you become a new person. That old person who was rotten with bitterness, and slowly dying and slipping into oblivion, is made new in Jesus. Even though there are still things to overcome, new life begins to sprout inside you. You are no longer a slave to sin, but you have become a servant of God – Yes, still a servant but look what Jesus said about being God’s servant: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus was saying that, while you work yourself to death in sin, when you come to Him, His work (represented by the word yoke) is easy and the burden He gives you is light. Your burden of sin that weighs you down, breaking your back, is traded for the burden of Jesus Christ and it’s easy to carry.
We are all slaves to something. Without Christ we are slaves to this world. That ownership dooms us to eternal destruction in hell. But, when we repent, when we believe on Jesus Christ and have come to know that God has raised Him from the dead, we dedicate ourselves to Him and we become His servants. It’s a whole new thing – a new creation if you will. Now we work for the King of kings and LORD of lords. It’s like transforming from black and white into a land of color. We might still be a slave, but it no longer feels like it!