Exodus 21

The Freedom of Surrender

_{But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.~ Exodus 21:5-6}

Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads, faced with the choice between doing what you want and doing what God is asking of you? It can be easy to say yes to God when it feels good, but much harder when following means giving up something that feels like freedom. This passage in Exodus speaks about a servant who had the chance to go free but chose to stay because of love and devotion to his master. What a powerful picture of surrender and commitment.

When I first gave my life to Jesus, I was excited about being free from the guilt and shame of my past. But as I grew in my faith, I realized that true freedom wasn’t about doing whatever I wanted. It was about willingly giving my life to the One who set me free. I had to learn that surrendering to God’s leadership was not bondage, it was the path to real peace. There were moments when I wanted to take control back and do things my own way, but each time I chose to trust Him instead, I found strength and joy that I could never have found on my own.  I came to recognize that my heavenly Father always had my best interest in His heart and by following His plan and direction He was always leading me to the great blessings He designed for my life before I was even born into this world.

This passage is a reminder that choosing to stay close to God is an act of love, not duty. The servant in Exodus 21 stayed because he loved his master, and in doing so, he found purpose and belonging. In the same way, when you choose to give God your full devotion, you experience a deeper kind of freedom. It is a freedom that comes from knowing you are loved, protected, and guided by the One who gave His life for you.

Below are some way to apply this truth in your life:

• Ask God to show you any area of your life that you have been holding back from Him.
• Spend quiet time in prayer each day asking the Lord to help you grow in your love and devotion to Him.
• Write down what surrender looks like in your current season and take one small step toward obedience.
• Choose to say yes to God even when it requires sacrifice or patience.
• Remind yourself daily that surrendering to God’s will is not losing freedom but gaining peace and purpose.
• Thank God for the privilege of serving Him out of love, not obligation.

Today I want to encourage you to see surrender not as a loss, but as the greatest gain. When you choose to serve the Lord out of love, your heart becomes secure in His care. Freedom is not found in independence from God, it is found in complete dependence on Him. Each time you choose His way, you are saying, “I love my Master.” That kind of surrender opens the door to joy, peace, and purpose that cannot be shaken by the circumstances around you. Let your life be a testimony of love freely given and a heart joyfully offered.

Today’s scripture reading: Exodus 21

1 “Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: 

2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 

3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 

4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 

5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 

6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

7 “And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 

8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 

9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 

10 If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights. 

11 And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 

13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

14 “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

16 “He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

17 “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

18 “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, 

19 if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

20 “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. 

21 Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.

22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 

23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. 

27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. 

29 But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 

30 If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. 

31 Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. 

32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, 

34 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

35 “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. 

36 Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Journal:

• What does surrender to God look like in this season of my life?
• Are there areas where I have resisted God’s direction? Why?
• How can I express my love for God through my daily choices?
• What step of obedience is God asking me to take this week?