This reflection from Deuteronomy 15, was written by our Worship Intern Nathaniel Gray. May you be encouraged as you reflect on the love of God in your redemption and make your life a continual offering.
15 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever.”
How easy it is for us because of our proud, sinful hearts to forget the work of the Lord in our lives. In our forgetfulness we tend to erase from our memories our understanding and personal experience of the unbelievable redemptive work of Christ. In this text we are instructed, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you…”
The exodus of God’s people out of Egypt is a phenomenal story characterized by a Hebrew boy named Moses who is raised in Egyptian royalty who grows to be the vessel of God’s liberation of His people, ten miraculous plagues, a cloud of glory and a pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, and a great triumph over Pharaoh and his army. The people that Moses addresses here are only one generation separated from the eye witnesses of these accounts, yet they still forgot and needed to be reminded of God’s faithfulness.
We look at their forgetfulness of such miraculous events and are in shock…but are we any different? Christ has redeemed us! All of our sin (past, present, and future) has been paid by our Saviour and Redeemer. Moses urged God’s people to have this redemption fresh in their minds as they learned the concept of cancelling debt and setting slaves free.
Just as Moses communicated to the Hebrews, God is giving us a clear definition of freedom. First and foremost, we need to realize that we were once slaves of sin but Christ has set us free! With this fresh in our minds, it begs the question, “But what is freedom?” God reveals a beautiful paradox as to the definition of freedom. We are completely free when we are enslaved to Christ, and in our slavery to Christ we experience freedom in its fullness. When submitted and surrendered to an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God, in our slavery to Christ, we find our freedom. We were created to worship God and through the decision to worship and serve him forever we find joy, satisfaction, and freedom for we are doing exactly what we were created to do.
Exodus 21:5-6 also references this freedom process as it reads, “And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.” If a servant wanted to stay with his or her master, the servant would have to declare it. They would have to “plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.” Then, the slave and the master would go together to the Sanhedrin, the counsel of Israel, and they would hear the servant’s words.
Once the declaration was approved, the master and servant would now walk together to the door of the city, and the ear would be pierced with the awl. This was a sign of a lifelong volitional commitment, based upon love and devotion.
The question for us is, “Have we made that declaration?” Spend time reflecting on the work of Christ as He redeemed you from your bondage to sin by canceling your debt on the cross at Calvary. Decide today whom you will serve. Will it be yourself or your redeemer? Will you declare your decision to the world that you are a follower of Christ?
Pierce my ear, O Lord my God.
Take me to your door this day.
For I will serve no other god.
Lord I’m here to stay.
Thankfully, it is Christ who gives us the help we need to "stay." In and of ourselves, we are "prone to wander", which is why we trust in Him "who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy." And we say, "to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen!." Jude 1:24-25.
For His glory,
Nathaniel Gray