Obedience is the key to our walk with Christ.
The very first encounter we have with Jesus makes us realize the abundant life we have been missing. Many of our mind boggling questions are answered; the needs of the hour are met; the void in the hearts is filled and the peace in our minds is restored. And we seem to be rejuvenated from the very next moment we believe.
I see that few people think that is where the quest for life ends. I think that is where the real search for the true meaning of life in Christ begins. And it would be debatable if any one said that the search has ended while on earth. Christ chose us even before we were born to be His. He had planned our life and our future using the best possible design you and I can ever find. Through all these things the magnification of the sovereignty of God is evident. But what am I to do here? Why am I at all here? That brings me to what I wish to write about – “Obedience”- my responsibility.
I study the Bible and read Christian books which do explain a lot about principles, problems, challenges and obstacles of life in general and specific. Some within the premises of my knowledge and understanding while some beyond my comprehension (which I usually call as OHT- Over Head Transmission!?) As I find a vast amount of words and ink spent on this huge ocean of topics, I find that it all kind of boils down to God’s sovereignty and my responsibility. At the end of the day am I able to explicitly recognize, realize and reemphasis on the sovereignty of God as well as my responsibility is the question I will have to answer and practice for myself.
It is amazing to know and experience the love, grace, mercy and power that God as our Abba Father immeasurably bestows upon us. The joy with which he fills us cannot be matched with any of the kind that we get around in today’s world. For me those serve as fuel to gear up when it comes to playing my role in my relationship with God. Being sensitive to the still small voice of God in the most noisiest and chaotic times of life may be a role that I am called to play sometimes. Being the little shining lamp that dispels the densest darkness in the surrounding environment can be another. Being the silent but most impactful child of God in a wicked generation can be one more. The bottom line is am I “being” the will of God? Am I fitting into that perfect design of His or am I trying to make one for myself?
Obeying God most of my life has been a step wise process. It may be different for different people. When I really seek to obey God which is a manifestation of my love towards God, I see there are 4 steps. This illustration just struck me so let me give it. When a baby is growing and you trying calling it by its name have you observed how it learns to respond?
At first it just hears thinking that it is something like a noise/voice.
After some time it realizes and knows that the name is directed to it because you are repeatedly making the same kind of noise to call its name.
In due course of time it understands, “since it is about me I have to respond or do something about it”
Finally it responds and turns to you or follows you.
Before long it also learns to differentiate the voice of the mother or the father from any other stranger who calls out.
By now you would have got a hint on the steps that I am talking about in obedience.
1) Hear/Listen/Read:
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching” – Prov 1:8
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God..” Deut 11:26-28
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” –John 5:39
2) Know/ Discern/Study:
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me”- John 10:14
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” – 1 Jn 4:1
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” – 2 Tim 2:15
3) Understand/ Acknowledge
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”- Matt 13:19
“Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” – Mk 12:24
“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” – Eph 5:17
4) Obey/ Follow:
“But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you’.“ – Jer 7:23
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete” – 2 Cor10:5,6
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance” – 1Pet 1:14
When I read the scriptures, I see that keeping God’s commandments and doing His will is very crucial as a child of His. I keep reading and hearing to lot of things about God-the Father, Jesus Christ-the Son and the Holy Spirit- the Counselor. Some I hear as I pass by or turn on the radio or change the TV channel. Some I listen when I am at the Church or during a Bible study or while in a discussion. But truly discerning and differentiating God’s voice was initially difficult because I did not know the scriptures or in other words my roots in the Word were not strong. But gradually as I read and understand by His grace, I can say it is possible to actually know and discern God’s word. It does not stop there but goes on to the next step to understanding what it actually means. The practical application of God’s word in my life is the final stage when I am willingly ready to follow Christ by denying myself and crucifying my pleasures. That kind of obedience comes from the heart (Rom 6:17)
Why I think all the four stages are important because without one the other is not possible. You cannot obey if you cannot understand and you cannot understand if do not know and you will not know if you do not hear. Moreover in today’s world of million denominations, a thousand doctrines and more Christian speakers, I think it is highly essential as individuals for us to go back to the Bible and learn, know, understand and obey Christ for we are called to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29) and to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22)
