August 25, 2014
Exodus 21:2-6

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We have been looking at Why You Should Love Your Master from Exodus 21:2 through 6:

    If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he
    shall go out free and pay nothing.  If he comes in by himself, he shall go out
    by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.  If
    his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters,
    the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by him-
    self.  But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my
    children; I will not go out free,” his master shall bring him to the judges.  
    He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost; and his master shall
    pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

We discovered that the reason the servant did not want to go out free, but instead was willing to serve his master forever, was because, as the servant plainly says, “I love my master….”  Why?  Because his master loved him!  And that love to his servant was shown by giving so much to him, especially – as it says – his master has given him a wife – apparently a wonderful wife!

In Friday’s blog, we considered Psalm 68:19:  “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!”  And I wrote, “…we will explore some of the benefits which God daily loads upon us through Him.”  On July 11, I wrote a blog entitled Loaded With Benefits, based on this one verse of Psalm 68:19 – all that God gives us!  Briefly, we saw that the benefits – especially in the western world – included Peace, Prosperity, Freedom and Opportunity.  Go back and read that July 11th blog!  And these four just mentioned are just a few of the benefits with which “…the Lord…daily loads us…”!  But last Friday we saw, “…the greatest gift is emphasized in the last part of Psalm 68:19:  ‘...the God of our salvation!‘  Jesus Christ is God’s gift of salvation to us  – the greatest gift that could ever be given!”

Now Jesus said in John 13:13 (KJV), “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.”  And why has our Master given us so much?  Because He loves us!  He again stated in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  That’s exactly what He did!  Our Master – the Lord Jesus Christ – laid down His life on the cross for us!  He didn’t have to.  He told us in John 10:17 and 18:

    …I lay down my life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I
    lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
    it again.

But Jesus’ perfect life was the price it cost to redeem us from sin, Satan, death and hell!  He loves us that much!  All we have to do is receive Him into our hearts and lives – what He has already provided for us!

There is a wonderful truth in Romans 8:31 and 32 that is actually an argument of logic from the greater to the lesser:  

    What then shall we then say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be
    against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for
    us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?

There is no greater gift God could have given to us than Jesus Christ, His own Son!  And He freely gave us that gift of eternal life and abundant life in Him (see John 10:10).  Now, Jesus is the most costly gift that could ever be!  And if God was willing to give us the best, most costly gift, won’t anything else He would give be a lesser gift?  And if He was so willing to give us the best, won’t He be very willing to give us whatever else we need?  Paul used this logic to write in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Over a hundred years ago, Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote the gospel song, “Count Your Blessings“.  The chorus goes thus:

                            Count your blessings, name them one by one,
                            Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
                            Count your blessings, name them one by one,
                            And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Someone once suggested the chorus should instead begin, “Count your blessings, name them ton by ton”!  Yes, our Master’s blessings – His benefits He loads upon us day by day – are manifold!  He loves us that much!  And so we should love Him!  And so we should serve Him forever!