Genesis 16:7-9, 13
“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert…And he said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’…[Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’”
Philemon 12, 15-16a, 17-18
“I am sending [Onesimus]—who is my very heart—back to you…Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother…So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.”
John 8:32b, 34-36
“‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’”
Gracious Master, the distress of the lost draws your eye and rouses your compassion.
You seek us when we are trying to escape a difficult obedience. Though our running leads us to a dry land, you search for us to set us free.
May the truth revealed when we see you face to face give us freedom from our stubborn wanderings, so that we return joyfully to serve a new Master. Lead us back to our true family, home and future.
We ask this in the name of Christ, who saw our deep need and became a outcast slave to release us from sin.
Listen to ‘O Wondrous Love’ by Steve and Vikki Cook
