Daily Devotionals

On the Day of Pentecost, about 120 of God’s servants and handmaidens were gathered in the upper room continuing in one accord in prayer and supplication (Acts 1:14-15). They were in place, ready to move into the streets as soon as God’s Spirit was poured out upon them. They were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do.

The shameful part of it was, only about a fourth of those who had been instructed to be there were present. Jesus had appeared to more than 500 of them and told them all the same thing…to tarry until they were endued with power.

Apparently 380 of them decided to stay home!

What’s the difference between the 380 who didn’t follow Jesus’ instructions and the 120 who did?

Those in the first group were merely Christians. Those in the second group were God’s servants and handmaidens.

The Word translated “servants and handmaidens” in Acts 2:18 is the Greek word doulos. It is the same word used twice, once in the feminine form and once in the masculine form.

In this particular instance, doulos refers to someone who has voluntarily subjected himself to another person’s will. It describes a bondslave who could be free if he wanted to be, but chooses instead to be wholly subservient to another because of his love for that person.

If you are a servant or handmaiden, you will be committed to the Lord Jesus. It is not a commitment He forces upon you. It is one you make by choice, because you love Him.

You see, when you were born again, you did not become a hired servant of God. You became a child of God, a son or daughter of the Almighty. You were made free and “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

But if you truly love the One Who set you free, you will trade that freedom for a life of service to Him. That’s what the Apostle Paul did, for in Romans 1:1 (amp), he calls himself “a bond servant of Jesus Christ.”

Choose today to be a bondslave…one who longs to stay close to the Master’s side…serving Him wholeheartedly from a heart of love and devotion. Choose to be one of God’s servants and handmaidens.

Speak the Word

“I am not enslaved by sin. I am free to be a servant of Jesus Christ. I choose His will above my own.”  (John 8:34-36)