Obedience and Love

Obedience: compliance with someone's wishes or orders or acknowledgement of their authority. Today's sermon was on obedience. My scripture reading this morning from Philippians 2 also mentioned obedience. Our culture is bred on the belief and teaching of independence and doing things our own way, however we want. To some extent we have been blessed by those ideas, free to create, to think, to grow, to learn. But it is also to our detriment at times, when it causes us to go against God's will and desire for our lives. We all know the general will for God for us: to love and serve Him and one another. There are things along our journey that challenge those commands.

Lately, I've been doing a really poor job of reading and studying the Word. Is it really considered poor if it's actually non existent? The last time I studied and took notes was November 23. Some decisions in my life and my overall attitude has reflected my lack of time studying and seeking God. I know he is there, pursuing me and I have been pretty complacent to not respond. I nod and say, "I know you're there" but I don't extend or push myself beyond that.

Obedience and love go hand in hand when it comes to service and commitment to Christ. It's because of his extravagant love for me that I draws me to Him and to obedience, submitting what I want or think that I may want in exchange for what God wants. God's plans and what He wants for us are so much bigger than anything we could plan for ourselves. I don't know why I forget that so often. Of course He knows what I need, He created me. Who else would know more than Him? I sometimes think that individual is me and so I leave the path in search of my own way and mechanism of action, forgetting that the creator of the universe has something far better for me if I would submit to Him.

My study bible had a comment of Philippians 2:12-13 which reads: "

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in  you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

The comment was this: To be like Christ, we must train ourselves to think like Christ. To change our desires to be more like Christ's, we need the power of the indwelling Spirit, the influence of faithful Christians, obedience to God's word (not just exposure to it) and sacrificial service.

It's not enough to just read the word or memorize it. It's about doing it, acting on it. We are called to be a people of action and of love and they go hand-in-hand. God helps us want to obey Him and gives us the ability to do it.