Servants & Strangers

Based on Exodus 20-22

"If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing." Exodus 21:2

In these chapters, God begins to use Moses to lead the Israelites into the next phase of His plan for them. Now that phase 1 of leaving Egypt was complete, it was now time for phase 2: creating order. The Israelites were used to the Egyptians' way of running things for so long-but now it was finally time to establish themselves as GOD'S people, not Pharaoh's. The interesting thing is, both God & Pharaoh had laws put in place, but only One had justice: and that's GOD! God is just & fair. His heart goes out to the servant as well as the stranger. No matter who we are, or when we are in the span of time & history, God cares for us! No matter what person is in power in our nation, any country or the world at large, God's ways are just & pure. He treats people fairly. If we want a better system in this world today, let's start implementing the Word of God as it once was generations ago!

"Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Exodus 22:21

This Scripture shows another reason why God does not "play favorites" but He judges each situation & circumstance fairly. God reminds His people where they came from. They may not relate to strangers in their land in the present, but in the past, they were strangers once too! Therefore, it's not up to us to judge, but to give our matters to The Lord, examine His Word, and let Him call the shots. We all desire to serve The Lord. We are all strangers to someone. None of us are perfect, and so all of us need a set of rules to follow...most importantly, we need God's true justice system which never lets us down. Servants & strangers may not find favor in different areas of the world, even today...we also may feel like outcasts at times...but God's Word & His justice system leaves no one excluded.

"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:" Acts 10:34

God loves & respects all without favoring one over another. He loves. He corrects. His goal is to build us into better people. Let's serve Him and be strangers to this world's ways, instead of serving ourselves & being strangers to God!