Serving a new Master

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At that time you were without Christ …, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:12

He (God) will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper.

Psalm 72, 12.13.

The Bible recounts the story of a young man in king David’s time who was in a desperate situation  (cf. 1 Samuel 30:11-20). This slave had been callously abandoned on the road by his master because he had fallen ill. There, without strength and having no food or water, he had given up hope. His thinking was already confused. He was at death’s door. This is the sad situation of those who sometimes express their despair, saying: “I have been left in the lurch!”

But the story continues, and we learn that David and his troops chanced to come across that young man. David stopped and took care of the sick man; he gave him food and drink. Having recovered and out of gratitude the young man followed David, thus starting to serve a new master.

Like David, Jesus Christ wishes even nowadays to respond to our needs, even if our situation is desperate. We, too may have been abandoned by everyone, rejected by our family, or sacked by our employer. But if David just happened to be on the same road as that young man, Jesus knows exactly where we are. “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He wants us to serve a new Master, to give up our past life and Satan’s bondage in order to follow Him who loves us, the Saviour. To those who receive Him, He grants eternal life. He then attends to their daily needs, those of heart and mind. He cares for them, taking them into His service for the glory of God.