“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just
as I have obeyed my Father’s command and remain in his love.” John 15:10 (NIV)
As small children, we may have been guilty of telling an
adult, “I don’t have to do that, you aren’t my mom or dad.” I remember coming
home from work and going into a babysitter’s home to pick up my son. She’d had
an incident with him. She had told one of her older girls to watch him. The
older girl corrected him on something and he told her he didn’t have to mind
her. When I heard what he had said, I
got his attention and let him know that if the lady told one of her girls to
watch over him that he was to do as he was told. I never came home to a problem
again. Had I not dealt with the issue as I did, I believe to this day I would
have lost a babysitter.
When we obey another person’s wishes, things are more
pleasant, less strained for all involved. When we follow God’s guidance, we
don’t have as many regrets, ‘what if’ thoughts, or ‘why didn’t I’ notions. God
loves us, even when we wander away from following His direction. His love for
us is more evident when we obey His word.
The little monkeys, they sure do try to find the loopholes, don't they??
ReplyDeleteSo do we sometimes...:( "Trust and obey" is certainly good advice, and a good reminder for me today.
Rhonda:
DeleteI believe the capacity to 'kick the goads', find those loopholes, is inborn in our humanity. Because we are human, we sometimes think we know more than He does. But as we spend time with Him, we find out that we are wrong. Children have to learn to respect their elders I couldn't allow our son to talk like that to anyone. His attiude as well as his mouth got him in trouble that day.
I think some of our challenges stem from our unwillingness to really follow as we should. Once again, I am thankful for His grace and patience, and wonderful reminders like this!
ReplyDeleteKaren:
DeleteThank you for your thoughts. I believe you have hit upon something here. We hav to be willing to follow Him and what he tells us in order to grow in Him and to further enlarge the kingdom.
I like that last line: His love for us is more evident when we obey His word. Very good!
ReplyDeleteJen:
DeleteThank you.
I believe it also works the other way as well. I have had times when I had to obey Him even if it was not what people around me wanted me to do.
i pray for obedience! and for my kids obedience....they do not seem to understand the whole concept sometimes...
ReplyDeleteAnnaMarie:
DeleteSometimes we are likened to kids when we step out of God's will and go our own way. We don't understand what is best for us,so we do what WE want-not what God knows we need to.
I think we are all guilty of this at one time or another, no matter how old we are. We have a tendency to say to God by our actions that we don't have to do what He says...but He gently, but firmly, reminds us that we would be so much happier if we would "trust and obey", like your friend said above. This was a good reminder for me today. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePam:
DeleteThank you for your thoughts on this. We have so much to learn about obeying Him.
I'm sure I deserved a God "spanking" a number of times! Thanks for tackling an important subject.
ReplyDeleteSusan:
DeleteI'm glad that God has mercy enough to cover the times I haven't obeyed Him. I know you are too.