"One Master"

When I was in grade school my father and I joined the local karate studio. About ten years later we decided to open our own karate studio to help teach families in our church who could not afford to learn from the larger store front locations. During this time I came up with the slogan “One Mission, One Master”. In martial arts the term Master is used to refer to the highest skilled instructor at the studio. In our case that was my father. At times he was addressed as Master out of respect for his position and training. A master is someone who has control over another person or a group of people .In the above case my father had control over everyone in the karate studio. Sometimes we allow inanimate objects to become our master. This can also be referred to an idol in our life. Later we can spend more time talking about idols. When we look at the word Master as it relates to the Bible we find it used multiple different ways. Master is used to refer to the relationship between a servant and his owner. As in Genesis 24:9 when Moses states: So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Master can also refer to the head of the house. In my home I would be considered the Master. In Judges 19:23 is says: And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. Master can refer to the relationship between an animal and it owner. Although my dog does not always see it this way, I will always be her Master. Isaiah illustrates this by saying: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:3)

Now back to the title of this blog, “One Mission, One Master”. I did not pick the word “Master” to draw attention to my fathers Martial Arts skills. I did not choose it to suggest that I am the ruler and you, my readers, are my servant. Although I love my little Husky, this blog is not about the relationship between her and her master. I picked the word master to draw attention to our Lord. Jesus Christ is our one and only True Master. The Lord tells the Israelites in Jeremiah that He is their Master. In Matthew, Jesus tells us that we can NOT serve two Masters. Jesus was referring to the relationship between God and money; however, this principle remains true with anything. You can not love any two masters the same. One will always have more of your love and affection. You will eventually love one and hate the other. We are commanded in Matthew to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. God is our ONE MASTER. Not the work place. Not the money we make. Not our boss or even the President of the United States. The bible does teach about the authority of government and those God’s put over us, so I don’t want anyone to miss understand what I am saying. I am telling you that God is and will always be the highest ranking authority in our lives. He will always be the most trained and the one who has complete control over our lives. He is the head of every household. God is the One Master that we will answer to at the end of our lives and need to give full account to for our actions. This is why I chose the phrase “One Master”.

I decided to do things a little backwards. I explained to you why I used “One Master”, before I explained “One Mission”. I will save the former for another post. Thanks for taking the time to read through this. I hope that you are able to see my passion for the Lord. Stick with this blog and over the next few posts I believe that you will start to see my vision for this site come clear.