God's drumbeat

When I study the Bible, I look for what I call “pregnant” words that are rich in meaning and that provide extra insight into what God wants us to understand and apply to our lives. In this verse we have one of those words, the words “servant.” The word Paul used here is one of the more unusual words for servant in the Greek language. It actually means “under-rower.” A Roman warship had a galley where slaves would be rowers who propelled the ship. They were completely dependent on the owner, or the Captain, of the ship. That is how God describes who we are in Christ.

We are “under rowers” and Christ is our Captain, commanding us. We row to the Captain’s beat, we submit to the Captain’s orders, and we are committed for life to obey our Captain and depend on His direction. We are slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ. But the beauty of it all is that we are thereby allowing Him to supply the music of our lives, and we are depending each day on the cadence of the drumbeat that He supplies.