10 Apr

Moving In!

posted by Jody Johnston

I have been taught a lesson that I won’t ever forget. It brought an attitude adjustment as well as a spanking, spiritually that is. My lesson came through learning about the slave trade in our country. This lesson has changed my life-style. So here it is; check it out.

Masters of plantations in the South began to feel convicted about owning slaves and mistreating them so badly. There were masters who would get so convicted that in the middle of the night, so no one would know, take their slaves to the edge of the property of the plantation and tell them they were free. One of three things would then happen to those free slave families. One, they would be captured by others and put back into the slave circuit. Two, they would be shot by other plantation owners who felt threatened and feared an anti-slave movement. Or three, they would make it to the North and live a life looked down upon as a sub-human race. By setting those slaves free the masters weren’t doing much for them, just easing their own conscience.

There were a few, not many but a few masters, who felt convicted and acted out of love instead of guilt. Those masters would approach the father of the slave family and tell him that they were being set free from slavery. But the master wouldn’t then separate himself from the set free slaves but do something very loving. The master would say, “I am not only setting you free, but I am also adopting you.” The master would give the slaves his last name and invite them into his house. “I want you and your family to move into the mansion with my family. You will be a part of my family and you will eat at my table.”

In Galatians 4:3-5 we are told about how we as Christians were in slavery under the forces of this world, but we have been freed by the blood that Christ shed on the cross. When God sent His Son, we were given an invitation to be adopted as sons, according to Galatians 4. When we received forgiveness of our sins, we were adopted! Just like those slaves, we were invited to “live” in the mansion, God’s Kingdom. Those slave quarters are the world; they are dirty and produce nothing good.

If the slave had rejected the master’s invitation, the master would have been hurt. If the slave had said, “No, I’d like to just keep living my life that is dirty, harsh, and unhealthy; I think I’ll just keep laboring for things that don’t really matter.” That would have offended the master!

I have been hurting the Master! I have not lived a life that has been “in” the mansion. Instead, I’ve been living my life in the slave quarters. IT IS TIME TO MOVE IN!!

“God I thank you for adopting me! I praise you for the love that you have shown, and I pray that I will live a life that is not a part of the world, but a part of you!

Filed in: Relationship, Responding to God

About the Author

Jody Johnston is a 17-year old student, athlete, and worship leader. He attends Hendersonville High School, where he is active in FCA and Select Chorus. In his free time, he loves to play Ultimate Frisbee and boulder.

Read more about Jody here.