“For you are a slave to whatever controls you.”       2 Peter 2:19 NLT

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

What controls us? Just watching the news for five minutes, with the ever-present threat of war and radically changing ideologies, can leave us grasping for some sense of control over our lives. When Peter writes that we are a slave to whatever controls us, he was addressing the false teachers that were plaguing the churches in Israel at that time, with their promises of freedom and the allure of giving in to sinful, sexual desires. But the verse stands out on its own. It is a spiritual truth regardless of the context. And it has got me thinking about what controls me. What I might be a slave to.

One way to find out what controls us is to consider what we spend a lot of time thinking about. What do I continually search for on Google? What do I love to daydream about? What do I look forward to most? Or worry about the most? In these distressing times, filled with uncertainty, we can easily become slaves to fear, slaves to worry. We spend time now keeping ourselves abreast of the latest news in Israel or the Ukraine. We think about our families and what might happen in the future.

But Ephesians 4:23 exhorts us to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes. And Romans 12:2 encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our thought lives must be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Not by external circumstances. Not by comfort. Romans 8:6 promises that if our minds are governed by the Spirit then there is life and peace.

At the beginning of many of his letters, the apostle Paul introduces himself as a ‘slave to Jesus Christ’. Some translations use the word ‘servant’ or ‘bond servant’, but the essential meaning is that Paul has bound himself to God for life. He is owned by God. We must also voluntarily submit ourselves to God in this way, embracing the wonderful truth that we belong to Him, that He lives in us. The desire for control, to have a say in what comes next, even to decide how we are going to best serve God needs to be surrendered. A slave is a slave. Our Master loves us so much that He gets to choose how our lives will most glorify Him.

God bless you

James