Obedience Without Reservation

I saw a quote from a Christian music artist just recently who had made some lifestyle choices that went against Scripture. In this article about her, she made this comment when saying she had reconciled her life to her faith: "God, this is what I got, so you love me with this from where we're starting today or you don't." She said she embraced her choices at this point and has moved forward. Here's the thing. Her prayer to God ... sounds like an ultimatum founded on the obvious. She asks God if He will love her as is. And here's the thing ... if she's Christian she knows God already loves her ... enough to die for her. He created her. He knows her heart. He loves her so unbelievably much. He loves everyone of us that way. But He doesn't want us to stay where we are. No matter what sin we have, He will love us. But He wants us to become more like Christ. He doesn't want us to say, "Hey - this is my sin. Love me this way or not, I'm staying here." It's like saying, "Liars, keep lying. God loves you." Or "Thieves, keep stealing. God loves you." Or "Adulterers, keep on cheating on your spouses. God loves you."

God calls us to a life of obedience to His will. In the Disciples Bible Study it says this: "Faith is not belief without proof; faith is obedience without reservation." That is backed up with Scripture which says in 1 Samuel 15:22: "And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." And in Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" And then powerfully so in 1 John 5:2-4 "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith." Christ himself said in John 14:23, "Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."

We are called by God to be obedient to His commands, and not just the ones we want to obey. We are to love. We are to be generous. We are to care for the least of these. We are not supposed to sin. Those are the rules. And we show we love God by being obedient to them ... not giving Him ultimatums and telling Him how we are going to live our lives. 

We want you both to understand the importance of obedience to God in all aspects of your lives. You will make mistakes, for sure, and God will love you nonetheless. That doesn't mean you continue in them. You will understand this more fully when you become a parent. You will love your children regardless of the errors they make, but you sure don't want them to continue in breaking the rules. You want them to grow, make choices based on righteousness and conform to the image of Christ. Don't ever settle for, "This is who I am, I like it, so I am staying this way." Instead strive for, "This is who Christ is, I love Him, and that's how I want to be."

The wisest man on the earth was King Solomon. He wrote a book called Ecclesiastes during the latter years of his life. This man had everything: money, power, women, brains. He had it all. But what he realized in his life was that none of that brought happiness. "'Meaningless, meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Everything is meaningless,'" he says in Ecclesiastes 12:8. But he concludes at the end of his book in 12:13-14: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." The Israel kingdom was torn in two because King Solomon didn't obey God. And he left behind him a legacy of bad kings who disobeyed God, eventually leading to the destruction of Jerusalem. God wants obedience. He is a holy and just God who demands it. And because of His forgiveness, we see a new King was sent to earth as a baby to open the door for that forgiveness. 

Obedience without reservation ... that shows our love for Him. Be obedient.

Discussion: Are there areas of your life that you need to be obedient to God in? What are some ways you can keep yourself in check with God's commands?

Prayer: Father, please forgive us for our sins. You have told us and shown us how we are to live, and we fail You every day. Lord God, may Your Holy Spirit ever remind us of Your Word that we will be obedient to it. We love you, Father, and thank you for the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, Amen.