If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the
doctrine… —John 7:17
“The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding
is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. […] If spiritual
things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of
disobedience somewhere in my life. Intellectual darkness is the result of
ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not
intend to obey. No one ever receives a word from God without instantly being
put to the test regarding it. We disobey and then wonder why we are not growing
spiritually. […] When Jesus drives something home to you through His Word,
don’t try to evade it. If you do, you will become a religious impostor. Examine
the things you tend simply to shrug your shoulders about, and where you have
refused to be obedient, and you will know why you are not growing spiritually.
As Jesus said, “First…go….” Even at the risk of being thought of as fanatical,
you must obey what God tells you.” CHAMBERS
Everything begins in the heart, obedience and disobedience. It is in the heart where what I do and think
is decided. That is why the Word says that
if you hate or lust, you have sinned. (1
John 3:15, Matthew 5:27-28) You don’t have to actually carry it out. God judges the heart. (1
Samuel 16:7) And so David pleads
with God to cleans his heart in Psalm 51.
I have discovered that immediate agreement with the Lord is the door to
an amazing life. A life where you get to
see God at work in you, through you, and around you. Over the years as we have served on mission,
I have had a number of people say “I would love to do what you are doing.” But they
didn’t and wouldn’t because of two things.
First, they were comfortable where they were in life and didn’t want to
give it up. Second, they doubted God. (Luke
9: 59-62) “He [Jesus] said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied,
“Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead
bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another
said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my
family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God.””
To follow Jesus means to lay down the devotions of the
natural life and devote yourself to the Lord, fully. To deny yourself and yield to God. (Matthew
16:24) Obedience requires faith. That
is why disobedience goes hand-in-hand with spiritual darkness, and obedience
with spiritual light. Disobedience is part
of the old nature, dead to spiritual things.
We should not treat disobedience
as a trivial thing that can easily be brushed off with a prayer. Most likely we won’t say that prayer, but we
will allow our disobedience to became a habit, taking root in our hearts, and deceiving
ourselves in the thinking that we are “spiritual enough”. The result is that you are walking in darkness. CHARLEY
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