obedience

Last night I continued in my reading of 2 Corinthians. When reading chapter ten, my eyes stumbled upon a verse I had underlined long ago: "...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (vs.5)." I am really trying to get a grasp on what obedience really is and means. Obviously, growing up we are told to obey our father and mother because "the Bible says so". But, the imperfect creatures that we are, that is not always the easiest thing to live by. Sure-we may try our best (or not), but the question again goes back to WHY do we obey? I think this ties in a bit with what I wrote last night. The 'power' of any authority can force obedience--and I think nearly almost every child at some point in their lives is fearful of their mother or father punishing them, which is why he/she might obey. But as we grow older, it is easier to see the love behind it.

Pastor Fred started a mini-series at Schoolcraft Assembly of God two weeks ago. Initially, I thought the whole thing would be devoted to the concept of obedience, but last week seemed to slightly drift from that topic. :) Well, in one part, he talked about his own family-- they have three sons, who, at times, were disobedient to him (shocking, isn't it??). The imagery was key here. A father loves his children, wants them to do the right thing, and simply requires an act of obedience on their part because ultimately the father knows what is best for them. As children, we cannot fully understand the ways of our parents, but trusting in their guidance is what causes us to obey.
Sound familiar? Sure--our Heavenly Father is the same way. As I said yesterday, our earthly minds are incomparable to that of God, so who are we to think we know what is best for our lives when it is He who is the author of life!!

Back to obedience.

Still intrigued by this simple or not-so-simple word, I wanted to dig deeper. Instead of being the small child who continually asks "why?"...I want to know how.

In the NIV version of the Bible, obedience (among the other forms/tenses of that word) is listed 123 times. Already past midnight, I knew my mind would not be able to capture the meaning behind each verse, so I just picked a few to dwell on.
So what happens when we obey? What does His Word say about walking in obedience? What happens/the result? Just a few key things...

1. it guards our life
"He who obeys instructions guards his life..." (Proverbs 19:16)

2. it is an act of love
"Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him'. (John14:23)

3. it is a result of faith...whereby we receive grace
"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." (Romans 1:5)

4. it leads to righteousness and purification
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth..."
(1 Peter 1:22)

5. it is better than sacrifice
"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. (1 Samuel 15:22)

6. those who obey are considered blessed
"I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:18)

7. those who obey are loved by God
"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:" (1 John 2:5)

Obviously there are many facets to obedience. I just touched on a few. After reading the above Scriptures, I fell on the last passage--1 John 2:5. Just before reading this verse, I still found myself asking, what does it mean for me to obey. Yes, I know what some of the results are, or why I should obey...but what does it truly LOOK like to walk in obedience???

If only I could be so patient!! I read the next verse... vs. 6 continues the previous verse (notice the colon). So let me put the two verses together--
"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

Simply Amazing!!

Recently I had a nice, long conversation at a local coffee shop. We brushed over the subject on what it looks like to follow Christ. But since that day, I have really been inspired to dig a well into my own heart to truly see what it means to "walk as Jesus did". It is our imitation of His life that is our act of obedience. God no longer requires the sacrificial acts as lived out in the Old Testament. Rather, His desire is for us to walk not only with Him, but in the same manner as He did. Does that mean I have to go buy a pair of thin-sole leather sandals (which undoubtedly would keep me from walking more than just a mile or two!!) and a simple tunic, to "walk" around like Christ? Probably not. But we can be the mirror of Christ. When others look at us and at our lives, do they see us--or do they see the living God who dwells within us??

Look at Christ's obedience. He willingly humbled Himself to the shame of the cross ("And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8). How many times will we (have I) said "I'll do this/that for your Lord, yet fail to follow through? What is it that stops us? And how often do we do things 'in obedience' because we expect something in return?? Christ obeyed- humbling Himself, in order to be the ransom for the sin of all mankind. Did He go to the cross blatantly expecting something in return from the world? Doubtful. Only by His act of love could He hope for the reciprocation of that love by the people in this world.

We have Christ and therefore we are not lacking anything. He is our strength, our firm foundation, the rock on which we stand...He will give us the strength to obey--not out of fear, but out of LOVE.

So coming full circle...I know at some point in life I was told that it's always good to ask 'why'...it leads to deeper understanding of why things are they way they are. But to tell you the truth, I want to concern myself more with the 'how' instead. I don't want to focus everything on why I'm supposed to do something, rather how can I do it--in a way that Christ would. So back to 2 Corinthians. What does that necessarily mean to take every thought captive to Christ? I can only get a small glimpse...but that would be my obedience to Him...and as a reminder, look back at John 14:23. The WHY is already answered- it is because we love Him, that we obey. How? Keep digging deeper to know the way Jesus lived....
...

~meghann~