Ephesians 6.1-12 (3)
Pray Psalm 123.1, 2.
Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
Sing Psalm 123.1, 2.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord is King)
To You we lift our eyes, O God enthroned above!
With longing gaze and heaving sighs we plead Your love!
Refrain v. 2
We look to You! Have mercy, LORD,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.
As servants strain to see their earthly lord’s command,
So we would in Your Presence be and firmly stand!
Refrain
Read Ephesians 6.1-12; meditate on verses 5-8.
What does it mean to do something “from the heart”?
Preparation
1. What should be the overall focus and aim of our work?
2. What attitude should guide us?
Meditation
In Paul’s day, while “bondservants” could refer to people who were free and employed by others (v. 8), they were generally slaves. Slavery existed everywhere in the Roman world and the slave population included people from every ethnic background in the Empire, many of whom were Christians. It is to those slaves and other servants in Ephesus Paul was writing. He was not out to overthrow the institution of slavery. That would be a gradual achievement. His goal was to bring grace into servants’ work.
Slaves and all other servants and workers must keep focused on Christ, serving Him in the fear of God and seeing their masters or employers as people to respect. This is a heart issue, as Paul mentions in verses 5 and 6. If our heart is devoted to Jesus in our work, we will want to honor Him by honoring those we serve and doing our work “as to the Lord, and not to men.” Seeing Jesus in His glory, the nail marks in His hands, the brilliance of His glory-radiating face—this can fill us with joy and make us want to draw others into that joy, even by the work we do. God’s will is that He be glorified in all things (1 Cor. 10.31), and that includes everything that has to do with our work.
Work is a heart issue. We must not allow things to lodge in our heart that cause us to dishonor those we serve or compromise the excellence our work requires. Resentments, cutting corners, doing just enough to “get by”, and other self-centered affections must be recognized for what they are, dishonoring to the Lord, and be replaced by sincerity, good will, and a desire to please the Lord, not men.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.16
Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Syria, who had led a raid into the land of Israel and brought back captives, including a young nameless girl who was put into the service of his nameless wife.
(Just noticing). Anyway, the problem was that Naaman was a leper. (He got named and got a disease.
But I digress.)
At one point in her servitude, out of love and respect for those she served, she recommended that Naaman visit the prophet Elisha in Samaria, who she thought could most certainly heal him.
He did go to Samaria and was indeed healed by God through Elisha of his terrible leprosy (2 Kgs. 5.1-19).
But the point is not about Naaman, it is about the servant girl. She was courageous, bold, kind, and loving; and her attitude—even in her dire situation of being ripped from her home and made a servant in a foreign land—is astonishing.
There is great power to be found within those who serve others in the love of God, “doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6.6). The unnamed servant girl is the epitome of that kind of power found in the unpowerful. Indeed, the power of the powerless (Christopher De Vinck). A good read, by the way.
We are bondservants of Christ, therefore, these verses are just as readily meant for us as they are for anyone.
We are to live our lives not as people-pleasers, but with one goal—pleasing God—in sincerity of heart and fearing Him.
“And whatever [we] do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3.22-24).
Be obedient, be sincere, be Christ’s person, doing His will with a good attitude and a glad heart.
Another mystery unfolds: the power found through humble love and service—by hordes of the unnamed—will change the world for Kingdom good.
Reflection
1. What would be some differences between doing things as unto the Lord and doing them as unto men?
2. How can serving others be a way for God’s grace to reach them?
3. Whom will you serve today? How should you prepare?
The duty of servants is summed up in one word, obedience. The servants of old were generally slaves. The apostles were to teach servants and masters their duties, in doing which evils would be lessened, till slavery should be rooted out by the influence of Christianity. Servants are to reverence those over them. They are to be sincere; not pretending obedience when they mean to disobey, but serving faithfully. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ephesians 6.5-8
Pray Psalm 123.2-4.
Today, pray for all the people who will serve you—clerks, postal delivery people, as many different people as come to mind. Pray for God’s grace to reach them through you, as you serve them in His Name.
Sing Psalm 123.2-4.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord Is King)
Have mercy, LORD, we pray; our souls are weary, worn.
The wicked world condemns our way and heaps up scorn.
Refrain v. 2
We look to You! Have mercy, LORD,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.
Our souls are sore oppressed by this world’s ease and pride.
In You we would be healed and blessed, and in You hide.Refrain
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at the role of culture in the Kingdom economy. Our Read Moore podcast will finish working through The Gospel of the Kingdom. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of Coemgen of Glendalough. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
