Psalm 116:16

Oh Lord, truly I am Your servant.
I am Your servant,
the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.

Isn't that verse odd?

We state that we are God's slaves.

And then we say that He has loosed our bonds, set us free, unshackled us from the chains that held us.

It is an odd slavery which is propelled by freedom.

Think of Dobby.

Or there's our silly little Rosie-Kitty who wants to crawl up on my lap or sleep by my feet. I'm the one in the house who never forces her to stay on my lap, or picks her up when she wants to be left alone. The kids sometimes ask in wonder, "She jumped up on your lap, all on her own? Uninvited? You didn't put her there?" Nope. She came of her own free will.

Cate wrote a couple of weeks ago about her daughter's piano lessons. Madeline resisted practicing and kept begging to quit her lessons. When Mom and Dad finally gave her permission to quit, Madeline began to play. Freely. Willingly. She began to want to play piano and began to enjoy it.


I am Your slave.
You have loosed my bonds.