[7] “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? [8] Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? [9] Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? [10] So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' ”
Our natural thought (or at least mine) is that serving the master is like a job. I can compartmentalize my life into serving God during certain hours, or certain days. This is clearly not the way it should be, but that is where my mind certainly wants to go! I can argue that the Lord is our good, good Father, and what Father would expect their child to come in from the fields and continue to serve Him? The truth is this is all about relationship! I am not just married to my wife during certain hours of the day, or on certain days. I am not a Father to my children only from 5-10pm on weekdays, it is every hour of every day. In the same way, my relationship to our "Lord" is a 7x24x365 relationship.
If we take seriously our accepting Him as our Lord, within the context of relationship, then it should also impact the way we spend our time. It is the same in my marriage, for my free-time in my marriage is always impacted and affected by my relationship with my Honey. I don't just decide to do what I want to do, rather I am always in conversation and communication with my sweetheart about what I am doing , thinking of doing, or inviting her to do. If God is our Lord, Savior, God and Father, then the way we spend our time should be impacted by this relationship as well.
Taking the idea of His Lordship in our lives a bit further, we could say His Lordship extends over our free-time! Or I guess you could say it like this, "We have no free-time of our own, all our time is the Lord's." I know for me, my concept of His Lordship sometimes seems a bit draconian, in that I think if He is my Lord, then its all about obedience, and Him being in control, and there not being any real interpersonal relationship. We can think of Him like a task-master, or boss and that is not the reality of what He desires in our life at all (at least in my experience). He is first and foremost a God of Love, and all of His interactions with me are founded on and related to His love for me! He doesn't boss me around, or assign me things to do that I detest, instead He invites me to follow a path that is for my best, every single time! He invites me and draws me, not through harsh commands, but through the bonds of love. So, when I say His Lordship extends over my free-time, it is this relationship of love that extends over my free-time and should influence how I think and how I act.
So, in light of what I heard during worship on Sunday, I need to look at my life and see how I need to change. This is the whole of what repentance is about, thinking differently and then acting differently. Lord, You are inviting me to bring my free-time more fully into the context of relationship with You! You are asking me to listen and see what You would have me do during my free-time. You are inviting me to change my focus from "me" to You. Lord, I know this is correct, but my flesh certainly doesn't like this invitation, for it means dying a bit to myself! I know You are offering me this invitation, so that I might break up some fallow ground, and see more fruitfulness in my life, and my heart says yes, but my selfishness isn't convinced. Lord, I ask Your help in rebuking my flesh, and bringing all "my" time under Your Lordship, and into relationship with You!
Amen!
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