Romans 8:12-17 - by Don Neuendorf
"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear..."
Who are you? Is it just me, or are we all prone to play different parts - put on different identities for different parts of our lives? I can go into dad-mode or husband-mode as soon as I walk in the door. I can go into pastor-mode as soon as I see someone for whom I must fulfill that role. And I have other modes that I acknowledge less willingly, like aggrieved-and-unappreciated-genius-mode...
Paul says that we all have a slave-mode. It's not just an act either. We have spent much of our lives being slaves to sin and experiencing the consequences of that slavery, fear, grief, anger, guilt, more fear. And we even though we have been set free, we can very easy (and do very frequently) slip back in to slave-mode and the fear that comes with it.
But that's not the spirit we have received, Paul says. We have another role that has been given us, and there is no reason for us to wear any other. That's son-mode... the role of one who has God's love and affection and who has inherited heaven and eternal life.
If you put on that view of your world right now, how might it look different than it does through the eyes of a slave? Would your work be a gift you give, instead of a fearful chance to fail or a deadening burden? Might your family be a wonderful place to serve instead of a place where you sulk because others aren't serving you enough? If you have the riches of heaven, might you look at this whole broken world and, instead of being afraid of what might come, be eager to see what God might do through you?
You are an heir of heaven. How will you live today?