September 26, 2026
Good morning! It looks like a great day for our pasture golf tournament; and whatever else you might have planned. We are starting the day at 51 degrees, headed for 80 before this one is in the books. It looks like we will have a 9-mph North breeze and little to no chance of any rain. Enjoy your day!
Tomorrow, our Adult Bible Fellowship group will begin a long study of the book of Romans. As a church family we are learning to study less for more. That means that for this Sunday, we will be looking at Romans 1:1 and a couple of other Scriptures; a method we will use as we work our way through the 16 Chapters of Romans.
I am of the opinion that we Americans tend to read too much Scripture in one chunk instead of really discovering every golden nugget in a smaller group of verses. Sure, you can read through the Bible in a year, but I have to ask, what do you get out of such an exercise. Oh, please don’t make me say something I am not about to say: Any time we open the Scriptures we should draw ever close to God.
May I illustrate: You and I are walking across a mountain range here in Wyoming. A range that we both know to be rich with gold deposits. So, we grab our pickaxe and shovel, and off we go looking to strike it rich with our gold discovery! As we walk across the landscape, we both keep our eyes peeled for a golden nugget, and we walk, and we walk, and we walk. All day long we walk back and forth across an area that our friends have found plenty of gold nuggets on.
One of our friends who has found plenty of golden nuggets tells us that we have to cover at least 20 miles each day if we really want to find a lot of gold. So, we walk, and we walk, and we walk. Back and forth, up and down, around and around we walk every day, all week long. Yet our pockets are never filled with gold nuggets.
If we are in an area that is known for its gold, perhaps we should stop walking, and dig. You know, maybe we should just stop and use the tools we have brought with us to find the golden nuggets that lie just below the surface of the ground???
My point, every time we read the Bible we will find some kind of nugget, but to find the bigger, richer nuggets, we need to camp on a few verses and dig. Dig deep into biblical truth using the tools we have to dig with: a dictionary, a study Bible, a notebook and a pen. Stop and dig around into the words of each verse, the truths within each verse and the application of each verse. Cover less ground, but dig deeper and discover more golden nuggets of Scriptue!
Romans 1:1a, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus.” To begin with, I would do some digging into who Paul is. What can we find out about this man? Next, I would want to know what does the term “bond-servant” mean? This is a fun one: In the Bible, a “bond-servant” is a slave who has decided to work for the same master for the rest of the slave’s life.
Quite often a biblical slave would work for a kind, benevolent, master. That slave would be allowed to take a wife; they would have children and have a good life working for their kind master. Because the slave was a Jewish man, at the end of seven years of service, he was to be freed. But because he has a great master, a wife and family who really belong to his master, he now chooses to stay and continue working for his master and to live with his family. A slave who chose to stay over being free to walk away was called a “bond-servant.” As such, Paul considers himself to be a slave of a very benevolent Master – Jesus Christ!
You see my friends, we are all a slave of someone or something. Here in America, it is usually something that keeps us enslaved. Wealth, security, freedom and status each tend to be our taskmaster. These earthly treasures keep us enslaved for years and years because none of them are a considerate, loving master.
The amazing thing is that Jesus Christ is a very loving, considerate, compassionate Master who gives us wealth, security, freedom and status as we walk with Him though this thing called life. In fact, there are even some folks who have decided to live the rest of their life serving Jesus, people who are now what the Bible calls a “bond-servant.”
In closing, I offer two suggestions: 1) Study less for more; and 2) Spend the rest of your life serving the very best Master anyone could ever have. Serving Jesus is way better that being enslaved to chasing money, false security and temporary status.
Digging deep into a rich relationship with Jesus with you, Neal
And by the way, remove the “L” from “GOLD” and see what you get! My, the difference one little letter makes.
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