Am I Locked Up In Chains?

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,
called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God,
which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, 
but established as Son of God in power 
according to the Spirit of holiness 
through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, 
to bring about the obedience of faith,
for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,
among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father 
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, as usual I am going to try and be open, blunt and honest. The word "slave" here throws me for a loop. "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus," This is where my brain originally when WHAT?!? So, okay I decided to pause...

slave

1. 1.

   a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them

Alright this helped a little. I can handle being legal property of God, I know for some that may sound odd, but I would rather be property of God than the devil. I would rather be a slave to God than a slave to sin. God is love after all so I would rather be a slave to love than do Satan (the divider) or wickedness. The next hurdle is, "...forced to obey them", Keep in mind that this a definition from Google. I have read my Bible many a time and I have NEVER found anywhere God forces me to do anything. God's most amazing gift to us all is free will. You can choose to not be property of God's at any time. Keep in mind though if you are not property of God's you don't enter his house. The choice is yours.

Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
"This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment 
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation 
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here."

What I find interesting here is that Jesus says, "This generation is an evil generation", okay so this isn't alarming because he's talking about people back in his day. Of course people back in his day didnt have instant access to pornography 24/7. People in his day couldn't gorge themselves on food at a drive through. People in his day weren't subject to advertising nonstop that would make one greedy or at the least covet their neighbors things or wives. Hmm... makes me think Jesus is still talking to us today. But here's the cool thing. Jesus is coming to us to help us because he loves us. He's coming to you write now as you read this, no I'm not Jesus, but his words are above my commentary on this page. You get to hear it straight from his mouth and then decide. Do you/me want to be a slave to God and all the benefits that has to offer, or do you/me want to be a slave to sin and deal with those consequences. Again, with God's ultimate gift (free will) we get to decide.

Jesus,

I love you so very much, but let's be honest. I'm pretty stupid. I mean I do really stupid things sometimes because I think that will make me happy. Help me to hear your words echoing in my mind today. Help me to hear your call. Help me to love the way you do. Help me to be the person you know that I can be. Help me so that I don't settle for pleasure's second best, but rather help me to choose the love that I was made for. Help me to look past the fancy car and see the starving children. Help me to look past the attractive model and see a person that desires genuine love and respect. Help me to see that I already have everything that I need and that you can help me to use what I have to make maximum impact on this world with the talents God gave me to make this world a better place. 

In Jesus Christ's name I pray,
Amen