“but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3:15‬ HCSB

How do we honor the Messiah as Lord in our hearts? We obey in our hearts. If Jesus is our Lord we will obey. A Lord is someone who has servants. Not like the slave masters we read about in American History but like the royalty we see in the movies.

““When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything.

“But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’ his master is to bring him to the judges and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.”

Exodus 21:2, 5-6 HCSB

This is a bond servant. He has declared his allegiance to his master because he has been treated well and loves his lord. Jesus was pierced for us to bring us to God. 

“Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.”

Ephesians 6:5-9 HCSB

If God wants masters of slaves to treat them with sincerity of their heart and with a good attitude then God will do the same for us. 

I was listening to Rod Parsley’s podcast yesterday. He was talking about Adam having dominion over the whole earth except one thing and that was himself because he belonged to God. God is our Lord and a good servant, slave, bond servant will obey out of love and not out of guilt.

“In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’ ””

Luke 17:10 HCSB