A servant is at the beck and call of his master. A servant is not free to do what he wants when he wants to do it, but must always do the will of his master. The Christian willingly puts himself at God’s disposal instead of his own. He longs to do God’s will, no matter the cost. He lives his life attentive to the voice and desires of God.

The Bible uses several metaphors to describe the relationship of Christians to their God, and each of them examines it from a different perspective to display different truths. One of the most prolific metaphors is that of God as master and his people as servants. We are servants of God. What does this mean? What are the implications? Here are seven things that are true of masters and servants and, therefore, true of God and his people.

A servant serves one master. A servant forsakes all others so he can focus the best of his attention on his master. He serves his master to such a degree that there is no room left for another. Likewise, the Christian leaves the service of sin and Satan to enroll himself in the service of God. He joyfully uses his life to serve that one good master. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22).

A servant is at the beck and call of his master. A servant is not free to do what he wants when he wants to do it, but must always do the will of his master. The Christian willingly puts himself at God’s disposal instead of his own. He longs to do God’s will, no matter the cost. He lives his life attentive to the voice and desires of God.

A servant is bound to his master. A servant is bound to his master through covenant, contract, or indenture. He cannot simply leave his service at a whim. Likewise, the Christian is bound to God through faith and baptism. “I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end,” says David (Psalm 119:112). We have bound ourselves to God through faith and public profession and should prefer to die than to break our promise.

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