Exodus 34

"Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.  Then he said, 'My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us.  Even though this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession."

Exodus 34:8-9

The argument against slaver has always been that people are not property to be owned...  In this way, I disagree.  We all should be owned by our Creator.

When we think of American slavery as it used to be, we envision masters beating and whipping their slaves.  We conjure up images of overworked black men, women, and children who have given every last ounce of their endurance and still aren't giving enough.  We imagine malnourished workers and disease running rampant through the slaves.  How much of this is accurate?

I'm sure there were slave owners who were this cruel to their slaves.  However, I doubt that this was the norm.  A plantation owner would know that malnourished, diseased, overworked farmhands are less efficient than healthy, well-rested workers.  I'd like to think that most were decent men, who provided enough food, shelter, clothing, and medical needs for their slaves.  It probably wasn't as much as they provided to themselves (particularly in the living quarters), but it wasn't nothing either.

Let us think of this, then, less like slavery and more like a low-wage job.  How many workers today earn minimum wage or less?  How are their situations any different from slavery?  They labor all day long, sometimes 3 or 4 jobs, never stopping for a Sabbath, and still can only afford the bare necessities.  They have just enough food to survive (or less), infested and deteriorating living spaces, and zero luxuries.  In many cases, these individuals and families have less than they would have had as slaves.

How does this relate to the passage quoted from Exodus?  God is a loving slave-owner, who sacrificed His own Son to rescue His workers from their own self-destruction.  God is the kind of slave-owner who allows His men and women to go free if they so desire, but loves them enough that He gives every luxury to try to keep them at home with Him.  He even treats His slaves as family - as equals.  We do His bidding, not out of fear for the whips and beatings, but because we love Him in return and want to please Him.

Question of the Day:

Are you a slave to sin, with its whips and chains, or are you claiming God as your Owner/Father?

Prayer of the Day:

Master, thank You for allowing me to call You Father.  Thank You for all the blessings You bestow upon me each day.  Thank You for loving me enough to buy me from my former master - sin.  You alone are worthy of my praise.  Amen.