In The Service of the King

No one is his own master. We were born to serve and serve we do, whether we admit it or not. We sacrifice most of our lives at tasks not of our own choosing, struggling with boredom and exhaustion to pay for shelter, groceries, light, and heat. Every adult learns that this is not a choice.

What remains a choice is how we serve, and in whose name. For when by the grace of God we were redeemed, we were redeemed from all our slaveries. When we choose to serve God with our whole lives, including the mundane workday parts, we become who we are truly meant to be, all day long.

There is no version of the story in which we are our own masters, as the world so desperately tries to convince us. When we serve ourselves we find a deeper and more brutal slavery than any of our fellow men could contrive: ruled by our own appetites until all our friends are rivals and all our joys, addictions.

But when we take our place as creations crafted to serve a loving creator, we discover what freedom is: becoming what you were intended to be. When we realize that, we find every part of our lives redeemed. All our labours are suddenly holy: the oil change we perform, the diaper we change, the school hallway we wax become little icons of his face and little cathedrals to his name. In the purr of the renewed engine and the slumber of the clean baby are the song of the Christ who takes the stained and makes them new, and his face is seen in every polished floor.

Respond in Prayer

Dear God, You have made the earth and you care for your creation, and you have chosen to give us a role in the work you are doing in it. Please help me to see my work as service to you, and please use it for your glory. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Michael Bonikowsky