What Would You Choose?

"He chose... Poorly"

     Lately our fellowship has been focusing on lessons of obedience. The lessons have been coming in concert with the principle found in Deuteronomy 15:16-17 KJV.  What happens when the Lord sets you free? What do you do when the obligations to serve are removed? Reading this scripture we get a clear understanding of a choice that a slave can make after serving for 6 years. He can leave or stay. Simple. If he chooses to leave, the master was to give him provisions and allow him to leave with his blessings.  God is saying we have the same choice.  Not that we could ever 'leave' the Lord, but He might want us to take another, deeper step in walking with Him and serving Him. A step that might cost us some of our precious freedoms. We can choose to go with his blessing or we can choose to stay for a deeper commitment to him. The slave if he stayed would have an aul place through his ear as a sign. This was done, I am sure with a cube of ice.  I wonder if they had stylish rings? Maybe a star of David or a brand for that particular ranch. There might have been a ear-ring shop with beautiful stones, you know, so at least it would look nice.  I am having a little fun because in real life who would choose to be a permanent slave? Really? Because it does sound great, spiritual, religious, righteous and we all want that or we wouldn't be going to church and sing about Jesus being our Lord. But is there a difference between going to church and being a servant, a live-in maid type servant, 24/7. It makes me stop and think. Who really chooses to do that? Certain things I want to submit to God then there are times I want for myself, like facebook. Come on. (Did you read about the preacher in New Jersey who made his staff get off of Facebook or lose their job?) Is he requiring servitude?
     I grew up in the still proud, "hell no we ain't forgettin'", region of the world, the rebel south. There were many stories, in fact there is one in my own family, about slaves who refused to leave their master after the Civil War. My great however many great grandfather had a slave that willingly stayed on after the great conflagration.  In fact this particular slave requested to be buried at my g-grandfather's feet after he died. I have seen their graves. This is repulsive to most people you talk to these days. And rightfully so, no person should own another. Yet, this is definitely what this scripture says. This goes against every independent thought which is nearly every thought of this age. "But I want to be free, free, free and I just got to be me, me, me." That's actually a song by Deniece Williams. 

       Christ gave himself freely to do His father's will, so I know that it is possible. But it is not something you can just mix up in the sink, like Love Potion #9. In fact at first my religious self said "yeah, I can do this". But the more I worked with it and considered the cost of obedience it became simplistically hard. The choice was too overwhelming. It seemed I needed an intermediate step between "thanks for loosing my bonds" and "put that hot iron through my lobe, I'm astayin'".  Who would choose an aul in the ear unless something else happened first, like a preparation of heart. I know that is a duh, but sometimes I need help.  I found an old sermon by J.R. Stevens titled What Would You Choose?(This Week Volume VI, p.243). It is taken from the scripture in Psalm 51:15-17 and I think it helps me to get down the road to deeper obedience.

       Psalms 51 prophetically said in verse 16, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings".  But I thought we were talking about sacrifice? Isn't it a sacrifice to be obedient, to be a slave? I have done a lot, what else do I need to do to be that 'real' servant?  I realized that at some point sacrifices stopped being that meaningful to God. The one sacrifice that counted was Christ's and His sacrifice was obedience. Another place these verses in Psalms 51 are quoted is in Hebrews 10:6-9, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God."  Not in offerings and sacrifices, but to do His will. What is the step between these two verses? I guess that is were I am. The motivation to serve, I guess is what I am looking for.  I believe between stopping my own works and entering into His works is a broken spirit. I think that is why David put it there. "Only A broken and a contrite heart will enter" isn't that Indiana Jones - "Search for the Holy Grail? 

Holy Grail

       So what does God delight in that I might be obedient. There has to be something I can do that helps me reach that spot. Well simply enough David tells us in verse 17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."  Now when I finally get down to this quality of spirit my resistance leaves. My desire changes. I want what he wants. I can't explain it, in fact it may be magic, like that Indian ink sink potion. Once my spirit is broken then the serving Him is all I want. It is a choice I can freely make. Stevens said "The dealings of God are designed to bring about that which in the sight of God is of the greatest value. I know that He is concerned that you walk with Him, that you be led by Him. I know that He is concerned about your dedication to bless one another and to minister to one another. But in the final analysis, the greatest thing of all is that He looks down upon you and says, “To this one will I look—the one who has a broken and a contrite spirit before Me” (Isaiah 66:2). A man may have many other things, but nothing is going to equal a broken spirit before the Lord." Again the writer of Hebrew said,
      "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (but a broken and contrite spirit, I will not despise) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God".