Psalm 27:4
It is not enough
to obey the Laws of God. I need to go
beyond obedience and work to become a person who desires to obey God in all I
do. In the parable of the prodigal son
the older son did everything right but in the end he was more distanced from
his father than the younger son was. The
older son stayed home with his father out of duty. The younger son returned to his father out of
repentance and submission. Both sons had
the love of their father. The younger believed and received it; the older son
did not even see it and rejected it.
It isn’t what I do
as much as it is who I am that in important in God’s eyes. Obedience out of duty, without a gracious
heart and submitted will is not enough.
I must go beyond obedience and become a person whose will desires to
love God more than myself. Then
obedience will be the fruit of that love.
I remember years
ago at my job we had someone come in and do a workshop on Compassionate
Conversation. We learned skills on how
to speak kindly and compassionately with one another. For awhile we practiced what we had learned
but over time we forgot the steps we learned and went back to our instincts. So the workshop was brought back again, and
again in the years to come. I remember
thinking we were doing it wrong. If we
were compassionate people we would simply speak to one another
compassionately. So we needed to address
becoming compassionate people, not just learning skills of compassionate
conversation. I am not sure there are workshops
for that because that is personal work and takes wanting to be something other
than I am. That takes more than learning
skills and exercises; that takes self sacrifice. As they say in Oz, “That is a horse of a
different color.”
Military commanders
in this world demand obedience. God
desires His children to love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and
strength. When I do that obedience will
be a fruit of that love.
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