Heb 5: 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by
the things which he suffered;
Obedience ~
I woke up this morning and thought wow day 23. Maybe I’ll
skip a post. I need a break. WHAT? Skip a post? Break?
Can you imagine God waking up and saying, “I think I’ll skip
answering that prayer. I need a break!” ???
Well as you’re reading this, you can see I shrugged that
silly thought under the rug. I made a promise and I’m sticking to it. Just as
God makes promises and sticks to them, we have a duty to stick to our promises
to Him.
1 Cor.15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not
in vain in the Lord.
I get tired too. I sometimes just let off steam and rant my
loose lips and just want to give up. But it is momentary, I’m telling you, I am
an obedient servant of God and as I go through my day I watch as people say
they are obedient Christians be anything BUT obedient to Christ. “Is all this
in vain Lord? Why do I seem to be the only obedient one here?” I feel alone in
the world sometimes and then a small sliver of light shines down in way of
another obedient Christian. I see them, embrace them and for a moment I feel
hope wash over me like a rain shower on a warm spring day.
Galatians 6:9-10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in
due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have
opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of
the household of the faith.
That was it, I had a momentary lapse of weariness. I felt
overwhelmed with a task; I felt isolated and alone so I did ask God, “Is this
all in vain?” He assured me that any task for Him wasn’t and gave me a shoulder
of His to rest on so I would feel revitalized today and as ready as ever to
move forward.
I think what is happening in the world is that men and women
don’t look down at their moral compass often enough. They go on with their day,
make sure they put their mask on before being seen in public, and go about
their day lusting, wanting, needing, fulfilling their need to satisfaction and
asking for forgiveness day after day, sin after sin. Why not, God is a
forgiving God after all.
To me, obedience is nurturing the spirit. And I do mean
nurture not just feeding my body of all that it craves. Sometimes depriving the
body is just the right tool to move you into an obedient spirit.
Say you’re a chocoholic. You crave chocolate daily and every
day you give into that craving and eat a piece here and there. No harm, no
foul? You are satisfying YOU. Deprive yourself of that urge every single day
for a month or two. You are now nurturing you and satisfying the spirit.
Now some of you will cheat and say, “I can’t afford to eat
chocolate every day, so a month with none is pretty easy for me.” That is
cheating. And who are we cheating? Our soul!
You need to find something that you get the urge for on a
daily maybe even an hourly basis. Like say coffee? Can you obediently deprive
yourself of coffee for a month? I know, you think I’m insane. Why in the world
would you do that, willingly? Sometimes to nurture our spirits and become
obedient to Christ, we need to deprive ourselves of urges we get and sacrifice
them for the Lord.
I’m not saying ‘you’re going to go to hell’, I’m not saying
‘oh look at you, you’re a bad Christian!’ What I AM saying is that to nurture
your soul, to hear God speak to you personally, sometimes we need to be willing
to sacrifice for HIM to draw closer to Him.
A lot of times I hear people say, “God doesn’t talk to ME!”
like they’re offended or something because I hear Him talk to me. Maybe because
I don’t consume to satisfy ME. I don’t ‘click’ to satisfy MY urges. I don’t
purchase things for ME! I’m not about ME, I’m about being an obedient servant.
I’m about guiding my moral compass in the right direction and staying on that
direction. I’m not about giving up, taking breaks and resting from my duties,
I’m about fulfilling my promise to God knowing full well, He will fulfill His
promise to me.
Ephesians 6: 7-8 With good will render service, as to the
Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he
will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
