Who Do You Serve?

DAILY READING

Romans 6:13

FIELD NOTES

“A friend of mine is a slave to fashion, and fashion is a fickle master indeed. Every season brings a new set of requirements, new clothing and accessories to be purchased, new trends to be adopted. Sometimes she looks fabulous; other times she looks ridiculous; sometimes she looks uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she has pledged her allegiance to Vogue and takes her orders from its editors.

Some people are slaves to physical fitness, arranging their lives and relationships around trips to the gym and rigorous workouts. Some people pledge their allegiance to personal wealth and are guided by the whims of Wall Street. If you want to know who your master is, pay attention to what occupies your thoughts and how you spend your time and money. We are all serving something or someone. This passage invites us to ask the question, who do you serve?

Paul sees only two possible masters: righteousness (God) or sin (everything else). He sees nothing wrong with having a master—everyone has one. It is whom you serve that makes the difference. New Testament scholar David Bartlett describes it his way: ‘There are loyalties that liberate.’ The only way to win is to surrender to God. As an old hymn says, ‘Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.’”

– Shawnthea Monroe, Feasting on the Word: Year A, Vol. 3, pg. 182-184

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• We all serve masters: who has mastery over your life today? How can we give our service to God instead?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• What are the things that we give most of our time and attention to? Is there a way, as a family, we can redirect that to God?

PRAYER GUIDE

Lord, make me a captive to you, so that I might finally be free. In Jesus’ name, amen.