Obedience part 1
I always talk about how obedience is a trust issue. If you trust God--if you know and believe He has your best interests at heart--you'll do what He says. And I think probably one of the best pictures of this dynamic is the story of Jonah. God told Jonah to go preach repentance in Nineveh. God wanted to save the city, and He wanted to use Jonah to do it. But Jonah thought the city ought to get what it "deserved." Jonah didn't agree with God's idea of mercy and forgiveness. And that's why he fought God every step of the way. He didn't obey, because he didn't trust that God was doing what needed to be done. I think that's how a lot of us are a lot of the time. We think we know what's best. But THINKING you "know" what's best does not, in any way, shape, or form, compare to the One who KNOWS the end from the beginning. And here's something I was talking about with my best friend today--there's such a spirit in this day and age of nobody wanting to take responsiblity for their actions. Everybody seems to have a victim mentality. We always look at things as happening to us, instead of things being the consequences of our own actions. Even to the point where when we say things like, "Jesus take the wheel!" we have kind of made that mean, "It's out of my hands. I don't have to do anything." Guys--rest is NOT inactivity. It is Holy Spirit directed activity. God told Abraham to go and Abraham went. That's the father of faith. That's what God accepted and attributed as righteousness. Faith, in other words, is obedience. If you believe God, you'll do what He says. If you trust that God knows the way--and, in fact and in truth IS the Way--you'll walk by faith and not by sight. See, God made the Way of Grace. And we respond to it with the walk of faith. It's not about abdicating our personal responsibility. It's about taking responsibility to do what God tells us to do. My son and I were just talking about censorship. I'm 100% against it. I think it's the worst. Having said that, I believe it is a parent's responsibility to make sure they are monitoring the content their children consume. Logan's position was, "That's censorship if you're not letting me watch whatever I want." And maybe by the letter of the law his Logan Logic is sound. But it's different because until he turns 18, he's my responsibility. I choose what I'M going to consume, because I am my responsibility, and until he's an adult I have that same responsibility for him. My point is--there is nothing Biblical or Spiritual about the victim mentality. There is nothing helpful or productive about saying, "I'm putting it in God's hands" and then sitting down and crossing your arms and pouting about it. Letting Jesus take the wheel means letting Him drive the car that YOU are. If I can say it that way. You're not opting out of the situation, like Jonah tried to do. You're simply letting God do what He's of a mind to do... in you, and through you, and as you. Offering yourself as a living sacrifice, as Romans 12:1 says. It's never about doing nothing. It's always about doing the right thing. When you can be still and know that HE is God... when you can hear that still, small voice deep inside and you LISTEN to that voice... you receive instructions. God shows you the way to go and the things to do in order to get there. Which, by the way, I can sum up for you in one Word--love. Holy Spirit directed activity. The Spirit of love leading and guiding us. What else could the Spirit of love possibly direct us to do BUT love? What I'm trying to say, in my roundabout way, is: if you want to obey God... love people. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's what it's all about. That's His New Commandment, and that's how we obey Him!