Obedience. I never have been very fond of requirements which the word implies but I was convicted in my heart last week that I needed to take my obedience to Christ more seriously. I didn't really know what that looked like as I began this week but as I read and made a commitment to being more conscious of my thoughts I quickly became aware of the importance behind the obedience in the Christian life. In fact, obedience is foundational to the Christian life.
I spent a lot of time in the book of Matthew this week looking at Christ's life and the life of his disciples and it occurred to me that the first call of the Disciples, Peter and Andrew in Chapter 3, show us that all Christ requires when he calls people to discipleship is simply obedience. Peter and Andrew didn't know much of anything about Jesus at the time when Jesus called them to "follow" him but Peter and Andrew followed anyway. Not only did they follow but "Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Peter and Andrew were all in from the moment the Call of Christ came to them. They didn't know Jesus was the Son of God they just knew they had to follow. It was a tug on their hearts that they acted on. This type of spontaneity seems to be lost in our society of rationalization.
The story of the disciples is very interesting because it isn't until chapter 16 of Matthew that we see the first evidence of one of the disciples saying that Jesus is the Son of God. It was not faith in Jesus that was leading Christ's disciples to follow Jesus; it was simply obedience to the call of Christ. We often think that faith in Jesus breeds obedience to His commandments but it would seem that idea might be backwards. It would seem that, in fact, obedience allows for faith to take root.
I was walking to the grocery store this morning and usually I'll just look for a gap in traffic and dart across in that moment to speed up my journey, but since I have been trying to practice obedience I decided to take my time and simply walk to the crosswalk and be obedient to the rules which have been put in place by government. (It is important to remember that God is sovereign in all of creation.) In all honesty, it was way better then just running through traffic because I didn't have that bit of doubt in the back of my mind that I just might have missed seeing a vehicle and might die because of it. My own rules to life are almost always incorrect and unsafe. My safety was in much less danger because of obedience.
It's kind of the same idea with God. We have been given the Bible as well as the Holy Spirit to offer us instruction about how to live our lives in a manner that honors our creator. The Bible is full of commandments that we are to follow. For a long time I felt like it was just a bunch of guidelines that you could pick and choose from to make your life most enjoyable. wrong! When I received the call to follow Christ it became a non-negotiable agreement. Either you follow Christ's commandments and live or choose to go against His commandments and die. When I choose to be obedient to Christ's commandments he promises life and when I choose to place false idols like basketball, money, girls, shoes, above Him I live in death and unbelief.
When I am obedient to God's commandments the opportunity for my belief to grow comes to the surface. I can see that He wants nothing but the best for me because I can see that His commandments do indeed protect me. I don't like to follow people just as much as anyone else but Jesus isn't like every other person. Jesus is your life and when you receive the call to follow him just do it. If you feel like you are full of unbelief right now then open up his word and follow his commands because following will always bring forth belief.
Are you being obedient to the Call of Christ?
For His Kingdom.
I spent a lot of time in the book of Matthew this week looking at Christ's life and the life of his disciples and it occurred to me that the first call of the Disciples, Peter and Andrew in Chapter 3, show us that all Christ requires when he calls people to discipleship is simply obedience. Peter and Andrew didn't know much of anything about Jesus at the time when Jesus called them to "follow" him but Peter and Andrew followed anyway. Not only did they follow but "Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Peter and Andrew were all in from the moment the Call of Christ came to them. They didn't know Jesus was the Son of God they just knew they had to follow. It was a tug on their hearts that they acted on. This type of spontaneity seems to be lost in our society of rationalization.
The story of the disciples is very interesting because it isn't until chapter 16 of Matthew that we see the first evidence of one of the disciples saying that Jesus is the Son of God. It was not faith in Jesus that was leading Christ's disciples to follow Jesus; it was simply obedience to the call of Christ. We often think that faith in Jesus breeds obedience to His commandments but it would seem that idea might be backwards. It would seem that, in fact, obedience allows for faith to take root.
I was walking to the grocery store this morning and usually I'll just look for a gap in traffic and dart across in that moment to speed up my journey, but since I have been trying to practice obedience I decided to take my time and simply walk to the crosswalk and be obedient to the rules which have been put in place by government. (It is important to remember that God is sovereign in all of creation.) In all honesty, it was way better then just running through traffic because I didn't have that bit of doubt in the back of my mind that I just might have missed seeing a vehicle and might die because of it. My own rules to life are almost always incorrect and unsafe. My safety was in much less danger because of obedience.
It's kind of the same idea with God. We have been given the Bible as well as the Holy Spirit to offer us instruction about how to live our lives in a manner that honors our creator. The Bible is full of commandments that we are to follow. For a long time I felt like it was just a bunch of guidelines that you could pick and choose from to make your life most enjoyable. wrong! When I received the call to follow Christ it became a non-negotiable agreement. Either you follow Christ's commandments and live or choose to go against His commandments and die. When I choose to be obedient to Christ's commandments he promises life and when I choose to place false idols like basketball, money, girls, shoes, above Him I live in death and unbelief.
When I am obedient to God's commandments the opportunity for my belief to grow comes to the surface. I can see that He wants nothing but the best for me because I can see that His commandments do indeed protect me. I don't like to follow people just as much as anyone else but Jesus isn't like every other person. Jesus is your life and when you receive the call to follow him just do it. If you feel like you are full of unbelief right now then open up his word and follow his commands because following will always bring forth belief.
Are you being obedient to the Call of Christ?
For His Kingdom.
I like it! Thanks for sharing and for your obedience!
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