Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: II Peter 1:1 (KJV) emphasis mine

But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. Exodus 21:5-6 (English Standard Version, ESV)

In our first Scripture verse, we see the word servant, which in the Greek is doulos, which refers to one who is in subjection without the idea of bondage. It means a bond servant, or a servant by choice, not by force. For example, Jesus came to serve by choice to save us.

For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. I Corinthians 7:22 (English Standard Version, ESV)

According to the Apostle Paul, someone who is the servant of the Lord is the Lord’s free bondservant- one who chooses to serve of his own free will, not out of obligation. True freedom is serving Jesus. In Romans 1:1, Paul called himself a servant of Jesus Christ, which is the same word, doulos.

As the passage above from Exodus explains, if a servant would plainly say that he loves his master, he can choose to remain with his master instead of leaving as a free man. In that case, the master would take the servant before the judges and pierce his ear with an awl to signify his decision and mark him as a servant by choice, or a slave who serves out of love. And he would remain a servant of his master from that moment on.

Jesus died for us to win us back and to win us over. Because He bore our sins and pain and purchased our freedom, we choose to stay with Jesus as servants, and serve Him forever. Jesus pierced us through with His love. In our hearts, we are marked as being His, to serve and worship Him forever.

Just as the slave could choose to remain with and serve his master out of love, we choose to serve Jesus. The truth is, the more we serve Jesus, the freer we become. Freedom is found in being a slave of love to the Lord. Jesus is our Master, our Lord. We serve Him by choice, for He won us over. Our hearts belong to Him forever, and we choose to serve Him out of love and affection.