12/18/2018
Am I obedient? This is a question that on its surface seems so simple, you would think it would be answered with either a yes or no, but perhaps the confusion is in the question, and how we ask ourselves. The more appropriate question is “Am I obedient in the way that God would have me be?” Do we play the “Army Game” with God?
“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,”
Hebrews 5:8-9 ESV
When asked by God to do something we can be obedient to Him and still miss the blessing. There are two primary ways that we can adhere to the letter of the law regarding obedience and still miss the mark; the first is to obey out of a fear of the consequences of disobedience, and the second is to obey with a wrong hearted attitude. There are others but let’s discuss these...
“But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"”
Luke 11:28 ESV
Obeying God because you are afraid not to is a disappointment to Him, and in doing this we miss the entire point of His asking us in the first place. Obeying God is more than following His wishes because we are afraid of the consequences, it should be done to please Him by responding to his asking with the same love in which He asked us. God does not ask things of us to punish us, nor does He ask to test our loyalty. God’s desire is that we obey because we love Him, and usually there is a lesson in it. To understand this we need only listen to Jesus...
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:9-11 ESV
We often do things that we don’t like. As a boy I really didn’t like to mow the lawn; I would much rather have been out playing with my friends. Quite often I groused about having to do it and muttered under my breath as I poured gasoline into the mower while preparing to get started. I grumbled about the fact that I had to do this and questioned why my father didn’t just do it himself. Most of the time I mowed it because I feared being placed on restriction, grounded, if I didn’t. I was obeying for the wrong reason. My father had asked me to help him because I was his son and he wanted me to learn responsibility... asking me was an act of love, but I responded out of a fear of being punished... I missed the love. Mowing the yard wasn’t hard, but I made it miserable because of the attitude I took. I missed the joy of serving my father. He is gone now, and what I would give to hear him ask me “have you mowed the grass yet?” Love is the true key to obedience.
The second common way in which we miss the blessing of obedience is by doing what we are asked, and only what we are asked. In the course of Modelnetics there is a model of behavior called “The Army Game” and its definition is this: “a so called game which subordinates play when they do only what they are told to do.” This is obedience to the letter of the law. It is doing just enough to accomplish what we have been asked without employing the use of our own intelligence, or a desire to please Him beyond just doing precisely what He asked. You know this game... you have probably played it yourself.
I was in a McDonald’s restaurant with my family, and as I stood there at the counter waiting for my meal I overheard a man pleading with the cashier to please run his debit card once more... he was certain there was money in his account. He was obviously down on his luck, his clothes were dirty, and his hair unkempt. The Lord spoke to me at that moment and asked me to feed that man. Now I could have added a hamburger, a small order of French fries, and a water to my order, and fed this man. If I had done that it would have met the requirement of “feed this man”, but I would have missed the point of God asking me in the first place... I would have bypassed the act of love. So I walked up to the register where this drama was unfolding and told the cashier that I wanted to pay this man’s bill. I also asked him if he had ordered enough to eat... I didn’t want him to leave hungry. The man said his order was all he needed, so I handed my card to the attendant and told her to put it on my card. Acting quite put out, and making her displeasure known by her body language, she complied. The people standing around watched as I did this, and I knew that what God had asked me to do had been a lesson for me... and many others as well. I watched as the man took his food outside the restaurant, sat on a stone wall, and ate as if he hadn’t had food for some time. God wants us to put ourselves into what He asks of us. He wants our act of love to become an extension of His. Isn’t that what Jesus did for us on the cross? He didn’t just do the will of God, He did it and then asked that those who were there mocking Him, and killing Him, would be forgiven. Give more, do more, love more than you are asked... than what is required to be obedient.
“Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.”
Philemon 1:21-22 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for loving me enough to ask things of me that require my obedience. I thank you for these requests because they allow me to give and do even more, and to demonstrate my love for you beyond simply obeying. Lord, ask me to trim the grass of salvation, and feed the hungry with your Word. Place me in a position where I can hear your will for me and do it cheerfully, and with an abundance of the love you have shown me. Teach me obedience, even in the midst of my suffering. Show me how to love exceedingly even when it means great personal sacrifice and loss to me, because in this my love for you is shown in its full glory; in this My faith becomes a brilliant beacon. You hold no good thing back from me Holy Father, and your provision is not bare and lean, but exceedingly fat in its blessing, and love. Teach me to obey in such a way that you will be pleased with my compliance, and glorified by my effort. Let no suffering obscure my desire to obey... and more. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who asks that I might learn to give, and who reveals His will that I can obey wholeheartedly. I praise you Merciful Father, and obey that you would be glorified always.
“Obey in the joyful hope that comes from faith - a faith in the exceeding abundance of grace, in the mighty indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in the blessed love of Jesus, whose abiding presence makes obedience not only possible but certain. Christ, the obedient One, living in you, will ensure your full obedience. That obedience will be for you a life of love and joy in His fellowship.” - Andrew Murray
Rich Forbes