The Demander of Rights

Jesus said "turn the other cheek" and "go the second mile" because he did these things for us. He never put down the cross, untied himself from the whipping post, laid down his burden and demanded his rights. And he DID have rights-- he had every right to smite us all for hanging him on a cross.

But he put aside his divine rights to save our souls.

"The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not 'do your duty,' but is, in effect, 'do what is NOT your duty.'" -Oswald Chambers

It's not our duty to dance in the streets naked like King David did. It's not our duty to sell our TV, or break a video game CD, or delete all of our music off of iTunes... 

But Jesus said that if we are his disciples, we will always do what is radically NOT required of us.

"I am a debtor, both to Greeks and to barbarians..." 

-Romans 1:14

Paul felt an overwhelming sense of indebtedness to Jesus Christ and lived a sacrificial life which proclaimed his servitude to the holy one. He viewed Jesus as having deposited a great investment in him, and Jesus was his creditor.

As a result, every tiny bit of our lives that has value we owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ.

The bible talks about bringing to God the first fruits of your labor, not just the unappealing leftovers (Proverbs 3:9). We are supposed to do this-- we should feel like it is necessary to do this, because Jesus gave us the first fruits, the wealth of his crop, his own life.

Paul sacrificed his rights and sold himself to Christ. He called himself a "bondservant of the Lord Jesus." It is required of us as Christians to ask the Holy Spirit for this same feeling of holy indebtedness, and we will never truly be free without this sense of humility.

"...you are not your own... you were bought at a price..."

-1Corinthians 6:19-20

To paint a better picture of this "servitude freedom", picture a plane. 

Let's say you are the body of the plane, and Jesus is the wings. The plane can function on the ground without its wings. It can turn on and off, you can use the toilet, you can even recline in a chair. And to be honest, it's probably a lot less scary being in a plane when it isn't flying.

But without the wings, the plane will never fly, and it will never be all that it was created to be.

So it is with our freedom. We can choose to detach the wings and stay on the ground, but unless we relent and give Jesus control of our lives, we'll never lift off and see the marvelous plan God has for our lives.