Bond Slave

Luke 17:7 Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? (ESV)

If we take this verse in the context of verses seven through ten, we see Jesus introducing the servant master relationship. He concludes the relationship with the statement that we are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty. At first read this does not make much sense, yeah we understand that we are unworthy of Gods mercy and grace but there is more to it then that. The word servant in the Greek actually means bond slave. In order for my point to hold credibility I am going to take you into the life of a bond slave for a moment.  In Exodus 21 we see the bond slave introduced. If you borrowed money and couldn’t pay it back, you gave six years of your life to serve them. It becomes a true servant master relationship. At the end of the sixth year the slave was free. If the slave decides he loves his master, the master can take him before the judge and have him declare his wish. So I ask why would a slave ever come to the conclusion he loves his master. Lets look a little deeper into this. If you become a slave in the first place because you owe money, your habits in life are probably not the best. One could assume you have run into a number of different troubles. Then the master takes you in and gives your life a meaning. He teaches you how to manage day to day living and provides all the necessities in the process. We can relate our relationship to Christ with this illustration. For example I was not able to manage my life, I wound up addicted to heroine and was living a fast paced lifestyle of self destruction. Christ reached out and saved me and gave me purpose to my life. Now I fast forward to this section of scripture and it takes on a whole new meaning. All of a sudden the master taking this approach does not seem out of line.

Application:
I do not give God enough credit were it should be given. I know I do not see myself completely as an unworthy servant. I know if I took on the approach of being unworthy I would actually be offering more to God. By the end of the week I will memorize verse ten of this passage to remind me of this relationship.