Becoming A Bond-Servant Of Jesus

Exodus 21:5-6---And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul, and he shall serve him forever.

The Israelites had a very humane and self-respecting way of dealing with financial difficulty. If you could not make ends meet, you could sell yourself as a slave for a seven-year period. Very clear laws protected the way you were to be treated. During the seven years, you would have food and shelter. At the end of the time, you were set free with money to begin again.If you chose to stay with your master if you found that place to be more suited to you than the outside world, you could give yourself as a lifelong slave to your master. Some slaves found their master to be kind and generous, and life in their service was much more secure and meaningful than struggling to make a way for themselves. When one decided to do this, his master would take him to the door of the home. His right ear would be pierced with an awl to the doorpost. He would then be a lifelong bondservant. Why pierce the right ear? The door represents the entrance and exit to the home. Now his ear is to be attentive to the needs of this home, attending to its needs alone. Several of the writers of the New Testament refer to themselves as a love-servant of Jesus Christ. They had given themselves for life to have their ear attentive to the needs of the heavenly home. They would no longer consider a life outside in their own house but now turn all their attention to the directions given them in their new home.