You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God… - Deuteronomy 11:27-28
This year’s Super Bowl was an awesome event! It was filled with everything we have come to expect from this extravaganza - a great game, a fabulous half-time show, celebrities galore and a wild finish! It was also something more, a showcase of two extremes.
On one side you have the city itself, Las Vegas, widely known as Sin City, with a controversial reputation in our culture. How did it get this moniker? Some would say it’s because it is perceived as a cesspool for gambling, prostitution, and general debauchery. For example, a few years ago, Las Vegas tried to change its image by promoting it as a family-friendly vacation spot. It didn’t stick. Perhaps the famous slogan, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” had something to do with it. On the other side of this coin, you have two football teams competing for the pro football National Championships. No small accomplishment. No doubt these teams reached this elite level of play through discipline and obedience to a higher calling. And I believe their discipline came with much sacrifice. They sacrificed time with family and friends to practice. They sacrificed the comfort of taking it easy to be obedient to the clear, defined plans and strategies set forth by their coaches.
What about us? Do we sacrifice the easy things of this world (temporal pleasures) for the greater call on our lives? What and how do we live out our obedience to Christ?
Sons and Daughters
Think of it this way, as sons and daughters, we should want to obey our parents - out of love and a desire to honor them. When we do this, we know that our parents are pleased with us. If we ourselves are parents (or guardians or mentors), we know how this feels in return when our own children, or those in our care, obey us. Therefore, we do our best to establish the kind of boundaries that help them grow into loving, capable adults. As parents, our love is shown through the sacrifices made throughout the journey; i.e., lack of sleep, difficult discussions, discipling a child, and simply being available to our children. Looking at obedience in this way demonstrates that the very essence of obedience is grounded in love. In John 14:15 Jesus says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
We cannot truly comprehend obedience without fully grasping the cost of God’s grace, poured out in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. He willingly and obediently laid down His life for us because He loves us. This action is summed up by Jesus in John 15:12-14 when He says, This is my commandment, that you love another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, do what I command.
The process of learning obedience begins with learning how to love one another, serve one another, and getting to the point of laying down our life for each other, as Christ commands. Obedience, therefore, is the act of complying with or submitting to the authority or another. Who greater to be obedient to than our Heavenly Father? As we practice conformity to Him and His will, we get to know Him and ourselves more fully. We then desire to be obedient because of our growing abiding love in Him.
To be obedient to God stems from His love for us! We know that God loves us deeply and are able to love in return, We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). By our very existence we know this is true and an abundance of scriptural verses attest to this love. And when we read the Bible, we can see the outworking of this beautiful relationship between God and His people. In fact, one of the most recognized verses on His love for people is found in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.
So, use love as your guidepost to be obedient in your walk with God and work to cultivate a stronger faith and walk with Him! Stop the struggle and embrace the journey. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
Here is a beautiful song on obedience, enjoy!
In His love,
Tracey
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