A New Master

Chuckle: "Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again."

Quote: "You will rest from your vain fancies if you perform every act in life as though it were your last." --Marcus Aurelius

"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do." (Acts 9:6 NLT)

As I thought about these words of Jesus to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, I was reminded that we all serve a master of some sort. It may be greed, anger, addictions, lust, or anything else that controls our lives. Our master determines our actions, thoughts, and attitudes. What you think about constantly, spend a lot of time with, or expend resources on is likely to be your master. What, or whom, is your master? Before Saul met Jesus, his master was his unrelenting desire to persecute Christians.

As Saul traveled to Damascus in pursuit of Christians, he was confronted by the risen Christ and brought face to face with the truth of the Good News. You may not have such an encounter with Christ as Saul did, but everyone of us who hears the gospel is brought face to face with the truth of the living Christ. And through the Holy Spirit, He speaks to us as he spoke to Saul.

These words of Jesus, completely changed Saul's life. Until this point he had answered to the desires of his own heart and the traditions handed down from his fathers. But now he was to obey the voice of Jesus, the risen Lord, above all. To receive Christ as Savior should include receiving him as Lord and Master of your life. Like Paul, Christ should be our new Master and we are to obey His voice above all. As we obey Him, we experience great joy -- for He graciously leads us into God's perfect will. "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart" (Psalm 40:8 NLT).

After Jesus had changed his name from Saul to Paul, Paul refers to this conversion experience as the start of his new life in Christ. He saw the risen Christ and acknowledged him as Lord, confessed his sin, surrendered his life to Christ, and resolved to obey him. Paul now had a new Master. If you have met Jesus Christ on your own Damascus road, and have received him as Savior, perhaps you should ask yourself: "Is Jesus Christ really the Master of my life?" If Christ isn't the Master of your life, you would be wise to pray asking him to teach you to put him first, listen to his voice, and obey him.

Maybe you are trying to serve two masters -- God and something else that has control over your life. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24 NIV). Jesus' words are especially applicable today. We live in a society where money and possessions are the masters of many.

Love, Jerry & Dotse