We find that a servant is "an agent who is subject to the direction and control of his principal;" and so when Paul speaks about "being made free from sin, and become servants to God," we understand his metaphysical meaning to be that such a free man is an agent of Principle. The fact is, as the apostle brings out, that every man is the servant of that which he obeys. If he yields himself obedient to sin, he is sin's servant; and if that service continues, it ultimates in death, "for the wages of sin is death." On the other hand, obedience to Principle not only frees a man from sin's dominion, but is itself expressed in righteousness; "made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness," Paul says, and continues the analogy by urging that as their members had been serving vice, they should now dedicate them to righteousness and so evidence holiness or consecration.
The question is timely for every living man to-day: What is it that has the hold over you? What do you desire to obey? The question is timely because of the "war in heaven" wherein all that perfectly obeys Principle is meeting the assaults of everything that desires kingdom, and dominion, and power apart from Principle. No such kingdom as that of mortal mind, a "house divided against itself," can stand. But even though the end of human ambition is death instead of enduring righteousness, human lust for godless power rises to mislead nation after nation and to torment the world. "Let us live while we live," becomes the motto of those who seek a brief satisfaction for their animalism. Mrs. Eddy says regarding this (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 36): "Appetites, passions, anger, revenge, subtlety, are the animal qualities of sinning mortals." Repentance and sorrow for sin would be the salvation of men from these conditions, but instead of this and obedience to God's call, there is too often what Isaiah depicted, "Joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we shall die."
Presumably the rich man whose lands were so fertile he planned to build greater barns and then to take his ease, was himself a good worker, toiling through the years for this final abundance. He may have been what we might call an honest materialist. It is an ancient temptation for the materialist, however, not to be honest, but to look upon the earth as a reservoir for the satisfaction of his animal propensities, and by simply taking from others what they possess, to have "much goods laid up for many years," and be able, therefore, to "eat, drink, and be merry." This is the hour when the true word can be understood regarding this false belief, as long ago declared: "He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool."
