There once was a man who had two indentured servants. One day a disagreement arose between them as to who was the greatest in the eyes of their master. So they went to the master of the house and asked him, “My lord, which of us is greater?”
The master of the house replied, “I will let you discover that for yourself. I will ask each of you a question and you must answer truthfully.”
So the servants stood before him and he started to question them. To the first servant, he asked, “What do you do for me?”
“Sir, I work in the fields all day long to grow wheat for my lord’s granary,” the first servant replied. “Then, at night, I go through the house and fill all the lamps so that my lord will have light. For this you pay me a wage, but I hope that one day that I may earn my freedom.”
The master nodded his head. He turned to the second indentured servant and asked, “And what do you do for me?”
“Sir,” he replied, “I am an educated man. I am well-versed in literature, music, mathematics and science. I teach your children all that I know so that one day they may leave your house and make a success in the world. And when they do, I hope that you will grant me my freedom. In the meantime, you give me a wage for what I do.”
Again, the master nodded. Then he turned to a lowly slave who was standing nearby, and asked, “And what do you do for me?”
“You know that I love you, my lord, and my only wish is to do whatever you ask,” the slave answered without hesitation. “You bought me and I know that I will be a slave for life, therefore I earn no wage. But you are kind and merciful to me, and do not beat me as other masters beat their slaves. You are wise and just and kind and that is why I love you.”
The master of the house smiled. “Then you are the greatest of all my servants and I will make you a free man.”
When they heard this, the two servants were aghast. “Why him?” they cried. “We do much more work than he does. He waits around for you to give him an order, but we labor in your fields without orders, teach your children, and light your lamps. We work unceasingly and should be rewarded.”
“Yes,” the master of the house replied. “You do work in my fields, and do all the other things that you said. But this man wants only to serve me, not himself. He waits patiently until I tell him what I want him to do. His faithfulness has never failed him. He now has his reward — his freedom. And I will place him as overseer, and you will be his servants. Because of his faithful service to me — though he was once a lowly slave — he is truly the greater.”
Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. (Ephesians 6:6-8 NIV)
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