‘Our Lord never insists
on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He
never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit
with Him. […] In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to
himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about
our being of value to Him in this life here and now. […] The Lord does not give
me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is
that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is
because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. […]
And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my
spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty
happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the
seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I
see the face of God. […] If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will
flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is
the reality of Almighty God.’ CHAMBERS
Obedience … why does that seem to have a negative
connotation? I think maybe because it
means that I don’t have control .. that I fear my best interests are not the primary point of
my obeying. Because following God is not forced
obedience … we think that it is optional.
Chambers is suggesting that it is the ‘key’ to unlocking the door to the
fulfillment of my ‘spiritual destiny’. 1 Samuel 15:22 ‘But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than
sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.’
Psalm
51:16-17 ‘You [Lord]
do not delight in sacrifice, or I [David] would bring it; you do not take
pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.’
In the one case Samuel was talking to King Saul ..
in the other King David .. Saul’s replacement … was talking about the same
issue … obedience .. thinking we should do something other than what God has
said has been going on a long time .. well, since the Garden ….
Imagine of you determined to obey God and not
follow your own path … sounds a little like repentance doesn’t it? And you found out that it really works! That when you trust in God and not yourself
.. life is better … that when you delight in the Lord, you are satisfied …
following our own way never leads to satisfaction … we will always want more …
our flesh is insatiable. When Andrew Carnegie,
who was a very generous man, was asked
how much money he needed when he had more than he could spend in a thousand
lifetimes, he said, ‘Just a little more.’
So how are you doing with your life? Do you feel like you have things well in hand
and if you need God you will let him know?
Or are you walking daily by the Savior’s side? There is no better place to be, yet like a
little child our tendency is to wander off … to go after that shiny object ..
or the thing that has caught our attention .. and in pursuit of that thing, we
forget all about the Lord. You know that
answer … and so does the Lord … draw close to Him .. and be doers of the word
and not hearers only. James 1:22
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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