THE MEANINGS OF THE WORD "SERVANT" IN THE BIBLE

THE MEANINGS OF THE WORD “SERVANT” IN THE BIBLE

“If a ruler hearkeneth to lies, all his servants are wicked” (Prov. 29:12). Does this mean that if our workplace owner or boss is evil, we’re supposed to quit? No. In the Bible, there are different meanings of the word “serve” or “servant,” and it’s important to know the difference. In Proverbs 29:12, the word for “servants” means that the person worships the ruler, desiring to carry out his every wish, ministering to his way of thinking. It’s different from the usage of the word “servants” in 1 Peter 2:18: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear [respect]; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.”

 

The word “froward” means crooked, perverse, and wicked. If the Lord were asking us to worship and yield entirely to this kind of person, it would be a contradiction of His Word. But instead, the word translated “servants” in this verse means “fellow resident or household servant.” It’s like you work in the same household, the same business. When it says that these kinds of servants are “subject” to their masters, the word “subject” means an attitude of cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden, in a military sense or business sense or household servant sense. It is not at all in the sense of worshipping or ministering to his or her ideologies. Only God Almighty through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is worthy of that kind of service.

 

We need always to be aware of where we stand as far as our servitude. Job 36:11 tells us: “If they obey and serve him [God], they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.” That’s where we want to be.

 

On the other hand, Psalm 106:36 tells us: “And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.”

 

We are sometimes challenged in our employment situations to make value judgments in serving. If our employers ask us to do or say things that are contrary to the Word of God, we have to stand up for God.

 

When I was an executive assistant, I was responsible for typing and signing letters for my boss. In one of his letters, he dictated a bold-faced lie. Morally, I couldn’t sign it for him. I knew I could be fired for calling him out on it, but I had to choose that day, if I was going to put God first or my job. I chose God and went into my boss's office and told him if he wanted the letter sent, he would have to sign it himself, because I just couldn’t do it. (Believe me, I said it in the nicest way possible). Well, I didn’t lose my job, because I was a valuable asset to the company. I did forgive him, because like Jesus prayed to the Father when nailed to the cross, "Forgive them because they know not what they do." But he did hold a palpable grudge against me for a long time.  

 

I’m sure many of you have faced this moral challenge. The way I did it was to remind myself that I am only a subcontractor on loan from the Lord. I worship and minister to and for God alone. And in the workplace environment, I strove for excellence, contributing to the work of the household, but in my case, not necessarily to the philosophy of the people in charge. I know where my loyalty lies.

 

Every so often, it’s good to check the quality of our service in our secular environment as well as our spiritual one. Both are important to God, but our spiritual priorities always come first.

 

 “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:24).

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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"HUMBLE YOURSELVES BEFORE THE LORD"

“HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE THE LORD”

I did my morning prayer scriptures, and the phrase “for I am with you” from Isaiah 41:10 stood out from all the others. Later that day, I was driving in heavy traffic in a turning lane, and we sat there for a while.  A disheveled, bent-over man stood at the corner with his cardboard sign. I saw he wore a nice white shirt and fairly new-looking shoes, but he was thin, dark-tanned from long hours in the desert sun, toothless, and walked back and forth on the median with difficulty. I tried to ignore him and quit looking at him as I finally turned onto another street.

 

Then, when I was already about two or three blocks away, that section of Scripture popped up in my mind: “I am with you.” I was instantly convicted. I knew I should have given that man some money. I was wrong to pass him by and try to ignore him, and the Holy Spirit flooded this into my mind: “You know how it feels to be ignored. You hated it, and this is how you want to be to others?!” Then I knew God was right there with me, watching this whole thing, but I still kept driving, asking myself if I should go back. I was now at least six or more long blocks away and told myself, “There is so much traffic, and I’ve got stuff to do!” I repented for ignoring the man, and I thought I was done, but God was not done.

 

Holy Spirit brought to mind the words of Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (from Matt. 25:40). Convicted again! Now I was many more blocks away from where the man was, and still heavy traffic, but I knew I had to go back, so I turned on another street and wiggled my way back through a neighborhood to make my way back to where he was.

 

Repentance is great, but often the Lord requires more of us. He requires the corresponding action we need to take to establish the true nature of our repentance. The Lord was right with me, and He saw my sin, and I didn’t want that on my record in heaven at my final judgment. I was wrong, and I could change the result, so I did.

 

The man was still there and I drove right up to him and handed him a $20. His wide, toothless grin was genuine as he said, “God bless you,” to me. That broke me. I cried for the next fifteen minutes as I headed for home. I told the Lord I wasn’t worthy of this man’s kindness toward me; I was the one who sinned, not him, and yet there I was receiving God’s blessing from this homeless man. He wasn’t frustrated or angry or anything bad. He was just truly thankful. What a lesson!

 

Our God is truly a God of mercy and patience, and His chastening changes us into better people as we endeavor with all our hearts to obey Him.

 

WOW! I just read James 4:8-15 when I was looking for a picture for this preach letter. Read this! It’s powerful:

 

⁸ Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. ⁹ Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

¹¹ Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. ¹² There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

¹³ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: ¹⁴ whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ¹⁵ For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

IN, REPENTANCE, AND A CLEAN HEART

 SIN, REPENTANCE, AND A CLEAN HEART

I let myself get emotionally distraught by the way someone was acting, and what did I do about it? The wrong thing! I started bad-mouthing the person in my mind and then it came out of my mouth. By the end of the day, I realized I’d really messed up. But then the Lord reminded me of the times people had said about me that I had a pure heart. Being emotionally mean and having a pure heart just don’t go together. So I repented. I was totally carnal in how I reacted. You know how certain things people do really set you off, and sometimes you just don’t even know exactly why? Well that was me. I was mad and didn’t even bother to ask myself why I was so riled up.

 

Maybe it was because I was reacting to something in myself I didn’t like? That’s often the case. We see something we dislike about ourselves in someone else, and we react to them because it’s easier than taking the time to examine the same thing in ourselves! But the Lord constantly gives us opportunities to change lingering sins from the past and become the new creation in Christ that He’s called us to be.  And by the way, we have at least one angel or two, from the time of our birth, to help us to get to our final destinies. In Matthew 18:10 Jesus tells us: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’” Angels to minister to us as children, and the Bible never says they’re taken away. Think about that for a minute.

 

Anyway, back to my story. I felt bad about being so weak as to let my emotions get to me, and the Lord urged me to go back in my mind to a time when I was around 15 years old, reading the beatitudes in the Bible in Matthew 5:3-12. I read Jesus teaching his disciples, saying:

 

“³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

 

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

 

¹¹ “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt. 5:3-12).

 

I remember thinking, “I want to be blessed;” Then asking, “Which of these do I want the most?” Verse 8 rushed into my heart. I wanted to see God more than anything, so I wanted to have a pure heart.

 

So when I was awful last week, and God reminded me of my desire from so many years ago, I went to Psalm 51, which is where the Lord has taken me so many times when I’m not such a nice person. It’s a psalm that David wrote after he sinned with Bathsheba, and killed her husband.

 

¹ “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me” Psa. 51:1-3).

 

Notice the word “throughly” in verse 2. That means through and through and through, not just thoroughly. Throughly indicates a deeper cleansing. Iniquities are those evil things that come into us through our bloodline; they have been there a very long time even possibly passed down four generations in our family histories. So they need a through-and-through and often the ministering of a brother or sister in Christ who is practiced and believing in their authority and power in Christ to cast out demons.

 

⁴ “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. ⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa. 51:4-5).

⁶ “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. ⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. ⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” (Psa. 52:5-7).

 

Psalm 51 is so great, but verse 10 is the one that for me speaks louder than even all the rest:

 

¹⁰ “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹ “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. ¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. ¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 

¹⁴ “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

 

¹⁸ “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. [i.e. make us strong] ¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”

 

The shepherd David, who became a king, could ask God to forgive him, create in him a clean heart, renew a right spirit within him, and make him strong once again. We have the same privilege from the same Lord, who is above even all the heavens, who cares for us.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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