A hard lesson that I have learned, and have tried to emphasize to my sons, is not to think of having “fun” as being separate from listening to the Holy Spirit. It is so tempting to want to set Jesus aside, leave the Bible in the bookshelf, and focus on having a good time, being entertained, having sensuous desires fulfilled, etc. Taken to extreme you can indulge in drink or drugs to help blot out any inopportune thoughts of right and wrong, morality or conscience from sneaking into your mind and ruining a good time. But after more than fifty years on planet earth, I have come to realize that the Lord truly knows better what is good for me.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 14:12 KJV
In our post-modern world, we tend to think of slavery as an absolutely bad thing – inherently evil. But doesn’t the nature of slavery have something to do with the character and judgment of the master? To give it a modern spin, doesn’t the experience of having a job depend a lot upon the character and judgment of your employer? If you have a mean spirited, exploitative boss who nitpicks your work and plays favorites with employees then your work will probably be less satisfying and enjoyable than it could be. On the other hand, you could have an extremely challenging job and yet gather a great deal of satisfaction from a few kind words of appreciation from your supervisor. Likewise, the life of a slave would largely be determined by their master. It is clear that slavery and indentured servitude in the past had a varied history and tradition that is largely lost today, perhaps we have eliminated slavery so far from the Overton Window that the only remaining forms are the most repulsive and hidden. Nonetheless, I don’t want to get lost in an historical sidetrack of what is essentially a metaphor for having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The more I think and act like a slave of the Holy Spirit and dutifully heed His gentle urgings in my soul, the happier and more fulfilled my life is. When I instead insist upon doing the things that I think will make me happy, they inevitably do not satisfy or lead to anything of lasting value. It is worth noting that God could have made us all literally slaves or robots being forced to do His will every second of our lives, but instead he made us in His image and gave us the gift of free will so we can choose who to listen to.
Listening to Jesus isn’t just the right thing to do morally, it is always the best choice because he knows what is truly valuable and what true happiness is better than we do!
Be a slave to the Good Master, humbly and voluntarily.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Better+Than+I+(from+Joseph%3A+King+of+Dreams)