But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you’…In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. Deuteronomy 15:16-17 NLT
They were popular among boys and men at the time, so when my son asked if he could get an earring, I said, “Sure.”
His anxiety level was high. We loaded up in the car and made our way to the local mall where we found a piercing pagoda located in the middle. Though only twelve, he sat in the chair like a little man and let the attendant jam a needle through his ear lobe. He beamed, and everything seemed well—until we started walking.
“Dad, I don’t feel so well,” he remarked. I found myself lying him down on a mall bench and retrieving a wet paper towel for his face.
Six weeks later, the time came to change the stud. Once again, he was excited, having picked out a new earring to install. This time he didn’t make it to the bench but collapsed on the bathroom floor. Several weeks later—when his ear got infected—he decided he didn’t want an earring after all.
If a Hebrew owned a fellow Hebrew servant for some reason, he was to free him after six years of service. But if the slave loved him and wanted to stay, the master pierced his ear with an awl. He would be his slave forever.
I’ve never had my ear pierced, but I have had my heart punctured. When I placed my faith in Jesus Christ, I became His forever. He didn’t take an awl and make a hole in my ear, but He did pierce my heart with the presence of His Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is the Seal that proves I belong to Christ—forever.
What kept the servant awled to his master was love. What keeps our heart pierced for Christ is the same. No amount of service we can offer can ever repay Him for all He’s done for us. He’s carried our sins away as far as the East is from the West, and He’s buried them in the deepest portions of the ocean—never to be held against us again.
Has your heart been pierced for Christ? If not, He’s waiting with the awl.
Father, we dedicate ourselves to You . . . forever.
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