Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Colossians 3:22
Father God, I have struggled with this verse of Scripture, conscious of how it has been used historically by those professing Your Name to oppress those who don’t look like them. Yet this day, as I step back, I ask first for You to forgive them for how they have distorted Your Word. Even today there are those who use Your Word to oppress and subjugate. It is not lost on me that even when they get it right regarding Your will, they use Your Word to lord it over others, rather than by love draw them unto You. I pray for the church today. I pray that You would give us not only a knowledge of Your Word but also insights to the intent of Your pronouncements. Help us to get beyond the notion of obedience for obedience sake, and cause us to embrace the ideals of a loving community of believers who welcome into their midst the outcast and unite folks from different lots of life around a shared faith in Jesus. In the same vain, I pray for myself today. Help me to have a mind to serve despite what I see regarding the injustices acted out against me or those whom I love and consider part of who I am. Instead, show me how I can please You in my service, decreasing that You might increase, focused not on what the world and those around me think, but instead on You and how my acts are received by You. LORD, it is not my desire to have a form of godliness developed according to the constructs of this world. Instead, I want to be like Jesus, Who loved and served His oppressors, and was willing to give up His life for them. Oh, that I could love that deeply! Serving despite them is the beginning of that journey. Walk on this journey with me LORD, providing the peace and resilience that I will need when adversity comes, enabling me to finish this race strong in Jesus’ Name. I pray this that He might be glorified in me. Amen.