Free to choose a table

This week a group of my friends and I started reading through the book of Romans.  So probably you are going to get a series of Monday devotions from the book of Romans for a while... 😊. Sometimes when we are invited to present a seminar, we are asked to introduce ourselves to the people and some even ask me for a CV before the time.  Its always kind of difficult to do this, so when I read Romans 1, I could not help but notice how Paul introduces himself to this church:  

Romans 1:1

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

At the point of writing this letter, he had not visited Rome yet and is thus introducing himself to people that do not know him at all.  He has all the reasons in the world to give an extensive resume of himself:  he was a learned man in his own right, was a Pharisee and studied under some of the most prominent Rabbi's (teachers) of his time.  He may have listed all his credentials and mentioned the prestigious universities of the day at which he studied and may have pointed out some of his accomplishments, but no, he does none of that.

Paul starts off with "I am a bond-servant of Christ-Jesus".  This is the most important thing he wants this congregation to know about him.  A bond-servant was someone who, out of his own free will, chose to serve his master in spite of the fact that he was free to go.  Secondly, he introduces himself by his calling - as an apostle set apart for the gospel of Christ.  He does not treat his apostleship as a title of great importance that entitles him to certain privileges and statuses as we see so often today.  He simply sees it as his calling to which he was set apart for the gospel of Christ.    

Isn't it a profound way to introduce yourself?  Think about it this way:  Jesus came to set us (all of mankind) free from the slavery of sin - and then He says to us:  "Now you are free to choose who your master will be".  Jesus does not set us free from the slavery of sin and then just enslaves us again to Him - for He is not a slave master.  He sets us free so that we can choose whom we want to serve.  We can choose out of our own free will to be His bond-servant - or we can choose to remain to be the bond-servant of the enemy, enslaved to sin.  Either way, its a free choice.  

Absolutely a profound demonstration of God's character.  God just unselfishly came and made us free,  so we can choose - all the while knowing that some will choose to serve the very enemy from whom He sets us free and therefore remain in slavery to sin.  It also means that when we choose to be a bond-servant of Christ, we have the ability to choose to sin or not.  We make the wrong choices in that regard very often, and then we can always go back to God, but the fact remains that we are free to choose.  Mind-blowing...

Point to ponder:  Whose bond-servant are you and I?  At whose table do you sit?  The invitation stands - the choice is ours.  What is your choice?  

Come to the table - Sidewalk Prophets