Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Mistake Of Substituting Sacrifice For Obedience




You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am …. I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master… —John 13:13, 16

“Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.  “You call Me Teacher and Lord…”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it— a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.” CHAMBERS

I saw a bumper sticker once that said “If Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all.”  You can find truth in the oddest places it seems.  The reason that obedience is talked about so much is that it is central to our relationship with God.  Obedience reflects the heart.  If I were to tell you that the key to walking in obedience is prayer, meditation on the Word, fellowship with other believers and witnessing, with Christ at the center . .would you tell me that you know, but you just don’t have the time.  Or maybe you would just think that because you know it is not the “right” answer.  The fact that you are not willing to make the effort to do what you have declared is the most important thing in your life reveals that it is not the most important thing in your life.  (1 Samuel 15:22) “But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

God doesn’t want our sacrifice if we are using it as a substitute for obeying Him.  He wants us to love him with all of our hearts (Matthew 22:37)  and that will be revealed in how we live our lives.  Are you living by faith or by sight?  How you respond to life reveals your method of getting by in this world.  I know I write this a lot, but it all goes back to the Garden.  Are you living as if you were your own god or is He Lord of your life?  Do you choose your own way and demand that God fix your mistakes and problems, or do you follow Him by faith no matter what happens in this life.  And if you have not been living for Jesus, then today is the day you can change that.  Repent and return to the Father.  The prodigal son had to return to the Father, the Father did not go to find him.  Why?  Because the son needed to have a change of heart.  (Luke 15:21-24) “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Think about it.  ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

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