Bond-slaves were described in the Old Testament.
"This was the act of a man who voluntarily said to someone he had come to know and love and trust, 'I am yours - I belong to you, and I want to spend the rest of my life fulfilling your wishes.'"
DeMoss goes on to say that though this bond-slave relationship is spelled out, there are no recorded instances of one who surrendered to this.
Isn't that interesting? God spelled out in the law how a slave could do this voluntarily when it was time for him to be freed. But there are no known bond-slaves recorded. No one was willing to surrender to this lifetime of serving their master.
However, I don't think we could truly understand what a bond-slave looked like until we had an example. This is what Jesus did. He was a bond-slave to the Father.
After Jesus set the example, Paul and Peter both wrote about being bond-slaves to Christ. How often we read Paul's words in which he says things like he is no longer his own.
Leonard Ravenhill wrote:
"Lord, engage my heart today
with a passion that will not pass away.
Now torch it with Thy holy fire
that nevermore shall earth's desire
invade or quench the heaven born power.
I would be trapped within Thy holy will,
Thine every holy purpose to fulfill,
that every effort of my life
shall bring rapturous praise to my eternal King.
I pledge from this day to the grave
to be Thine own, unquestioning slave.
Lord, grant that this prayer shall be our own. Amen.
The more I read through Ravenhill's words, the more meaning I see.
How I want to be able to wholeheartedly say the same, which exudes full surrender.
What thoughts do you have on being a bond-slave and on Ravenhill's soliloquy of surrender?
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