The Mark of a Servant ~ Caity Domelle
I LOVE freckles! I just think they are some of the cutest things God ever created. I like to imagine that when God was creating some of us, He looked at us and thought, “Hmm…something is missing. I know—I’ll add some freckles. There! Now it’s PERFECT!” At least, that’s how I like to imagine it—HA!
As amazing as freckles are, there is a mark that God loves even more. Few receive this mark. Why? This mark requires great faith. This mark is painful to those who receive it. This mark deeply changes those who have it. This is a mark God wishes every believer would have. What is this mark?
The mark of a servant.
Back at the beginning of June, I went to a teen conference with my church, Maranatha Baptist Church’s teen group. During one of the sermons the preacher used Exodus 21:5-6 which says, “And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.” This immediately struck my mind. You see, the rituals we find in the Old Testament are supposed to be symbols of the Christian life. This verse symbolizes what the relationship between the believer and God is supposed to be.
Just like the servant, we are first bought with a price. Our salvation makes us forever indebted to God, and we will never be able to pay it off. While we can still serve with this
mindset, it will only ever produce a life of mediocre service. The difference comes when the servant goes from the mindset of having to serve their Master to wanting to serve their Master. Through this mindset, the servant’s life completely changes.
To show this change, God places a mark upon them. While this mark isn’t a physical one, it is one that many will see. It’s a mark that causes people to take notice because they have been set apart from the rest of the servants. It’s a mark that few understand the significance of. At first, many think this mark looks hideous. It looks like the great sickness Marlene Evans had for years. It looks like the deep grief of the loss of an unsaved father like Dr Jack Hyles had. It looks like complete loss like what Job had. It looks like an unwanted divorce like what I have. Each one of these marks, at first glance, looks ugly.
But to those who wear the marks, they are not ugly—they are beautiful. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” God makes our mark beautiful by being with us no matter what. Looking at our mark reminds us of all that our God did for us. But you know what most people miss in this? He isn’t always with everyone.
He’s always with His servant.
This explains why He’s not with those who fall into sin. They are saved, but they have chosen to leave Him. This also explains why those who serve God have the richest
relationships with Him. The process of the marking created a dependence on God.
Have you ever heard of the bummer lamb? It’s a lamb that, for whatever reason, gets rejected by its mother. The only way it can survive is if the shepherd intervenes. Once the lamb grows to where it can be amongst the flock, the shepherd lets it go. The beauty of it is that the bummer lamb is always waiting for its shepherd’s call because of the love it has for the one who saved it.
The marked servants are just like that bummer lamb. They know their Shepherd has done a great work in their lives, and they love Him for it. The mark reminds them of all He has brought them through. It may be painful, but it’s the most wonderful thing any believer can wear if only they would choose to.