Sometimes, we sing a song in which we ask God to take us to His door and pierce our ear. We finish by telling Him that we never want to be a free man. What could this possibly mean? It is imperative that we “sing with the spirit and the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15), but what is your understanding about what you are saying when you ask God to pierce your ear?
The background of this song is found in Exodus chapter twenty-one. The Jews were allowed to purchase another Jew as a slave, but after seven years, he had to be released from his servitude. However, during those seven years, the master of that slave could have been so kind and benevolent that the slave would not want to leave his master. His life as a slave was so much better than what it was before he was bought—he simply did not want to leave.
Thus the Lord said, “If the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.’” The servant was then to be brought before the judges of the city and taken to the door and “his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.” Slavery can involve tortious service with an evil master, but when one has a kind, compassionate master, his life is totally different. He gladly becomes a slave because he loves his master.
Jesus is our kind, benevolent and compassionate master. That is why Paul often described himself as a bondservant of the Lord. That is why Paul described the choice we must make as either choosing the bondage of sin with all its attendant evil or to willingly give our all to our Master (Rom. 6:16-23). That is also why we sing together asking Him to pierce our ears—we want to serve Him forever.
As a preschool child, I learned a song in Bible class which gave the same kind of message to me. “I washed my hands this morning, so very clean and bright; and lent them up to Jesus to work for Him till night.” Before I was old enough to attend school, I sang this song promising Him that I would work for Him. (Google this song to hear children as young as two singing this life-changing song). Now, as an adult, I sing another song which even more vividly describes the devotion we must all have to our Master. I now ask Him to take me to His door and to “pierce my ear.”
The question each of us should consider is, “Have we stood before His door?” “Pierced ears” proclaim total surrender to the Master. Our time, our energy, our money, our lives and all we have belongs to Him. So, why not take time today to read those verses in Exodus 21, then meditate how they apply to your live. Then, stand before the mirror of His word and see if your ears have been pierced.