Daily Devotional Thursday 1st October 2020
by William MoodyEphesians 6:5–9
Bondservants and Masters
5 Bondservants,1 obey your earthly masters2 with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master3 and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Footnotes
[1] 6:5
For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 6; likewise for bondservant in verse 8
[2] 6:5Or your masters according to the flesh
[3] 6:9Greek Lord (ESV)
In speaking to slaves Paul calls for obedience that is sincere (v5). They are not just to obey when being watched by earthly masters but as servants of Christ working for Him they are to obey at all times (v6-7). Our faith in Christ has to affect every area of our lives including our daily work. Everything we do, we do for Christ and one day we will be rewarded (v8).
Christians need to be seen as the most punctual, reliable, honest and hardworking employees. Is this true for you? Pray about this.
Masters (v9) are not to rule with threats knowing that if they had Christians working for them, the worker’s Master was Christ as was their own. Masters are not just to see their workers as those who do something for them, but to see them as real human beings with needs. Love and compassion should be their hallmark. Masters are to rule as Christ would rule.
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