Obedience. That is a
word that I tend to reserve solely for children. But the reality is that we are all children,
God’s children. Just like we expect
obedience from our own children, so God expects obedience from us.
In Jeremiah 7:23 The Lord says, “Obey me, and I will be your
God and you will be my people. Walk in
obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.”
Instead of obedience though, I sometimes want to compromise
with God. If He does what I ask (or
need) then I will do what He asks. “God,
if you heal me, then I will lead that Sunday School class.” Have you ever done something like that?
God doesn’t want compromises though, especially when it
comes to our hearts and allegiance to Him.
These past two years, God has really been working with us on our
obedience. It has been a process of
stretching us, searching our hearts, and bringing us to a point of submission
to His will. Once we are submitted, then
and only then can God really go somewhere with us.
1 Samuel 15:22 says, “Does the Lord delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying to voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice.”
Sometimes obeying does mean sacrificing though. I realize that in that passage Samuel is
referring to the literal action of a sacrifice, but it is still relevant to us
today. For me, selling my house
(favorite house ever!) is an act of obedience AND a sacrifice. Being submitted to God and being obedient to
his call often means valuing the things of God not of man. We will all be sacrificing in this missions process:
us, our kids, parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers, etc.
However, what we give up in the process pales
in comparison to the delight that The Lord receives from our obedience.
What is God asking you to do today?
