5 Smooth Stones

you with, you shall give to him. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. 16 And if it happens that he says to you, 'I will not go away from you,' because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, 17 then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever.” A Christian who has received salvation freely, but then made the choice to lay down their life and serve Christ has made the decision to be a bondservant (Greek doulos). Having been set free, makes a conscious decision to live for the master and not for themselves any longer as a true disciple. Every disciple is a Christian, but not every Christian is a disciple. Likewise, not everyone who serves Christ is a bondservant. Ma tt hew 10:24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a [bond] servant [doulos] above his master.” Galatians 1:10: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” In fact all of the apostles were bondservants of Christ (Romans 1:1, James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, Jude 1). When Jesus said to Peter “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” (Ma tt hew 16:19) he was making reference to the bondservant who could be trusted with the keys to all the master had, because he could be trusted to put the interest of the master fi rst. In learning a trade an apprentice learns from a master. In time he progresses to a journeyman and eventually a master craftsman himself. But if he or she cannot be trusted to put the interests and instructions of the master fi rst then he or she will not progress into mastery as they have not proven their worthiness. Before someone is released fully over the a ff airs of the master, they must be taught, tested, proven and marked. Absalom had potential, he had ability and gifts, he had wisdom, but he lacked the character proven through testing. While he placed himself in a position of authority in the gate, he had not had his ear pierced and proven his fealty and he had not been granted the keys (authority). Absalom’s relationship to David opened the opportunity for him to have access to the gates of the city. A successful minister or ministry as well as business or profession will open up doors of opportunity for those who are closely related or associated with that organization, person or business. What the person does with those opportunities will show character, but sometimes the character is that like Absalom who won over the hearts of the people, but then drew them over to himself. 157

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