There are a lot of four-letter words that probably should be eliminated from our vocabulary. As this is a Christian space, I’ll not be listing them here, but if you use an ounce of your imagination, you can guess at least a few, I’m sure.
I’ve noticed lately that there is a trend in my coaching circles to use some pretty vulgar words to show how relatable and tough they are. There is a whole army of “badass” coaches out there. And if that is the way they want to be known, it’s a choice they make. It’s just not for me. Although I’m not perfect, and I do use inappropriate language at times, I would never want it to be a part of what people think of when they think of me.
There is another word, in contrast to all those 4 letter words you typically think of, that has almost completely fallen out of circulation and really should be a household word. It’s a word I used to shy away from because the connotation seemed so negative. The word is “obey.”
My dictionary tells me the primary definition of the word obey is: to comply with or follow commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions. I know when I was little, obeying meant I wasn’t going to get to do what I wanted to do. When you think about it, if we are obeying a rule, regulation, or even our parents, chances are we are doing something we probably wouldn’t otherwise do, right?
So I get why people might shy away from obeying when we put it in those terms, don’t you? Most of us probably believe that if we obey, we won’t enjoy life. In today’s world, we are all about doing our own thing, being unrestricted, and carefree. And being obedient sounds so restrictive. But the Bible gives us a different perspective on the word. It means we are to listen to God, trust what he says in the Word, submit ourselves to His authority over our lives, and surrender to His Will.
It sounds kind of hard, doesn’t it? In fact, most of us don’t even really know what all of that means. So instead, we avoid the issue and become surface Christians. We go to church. But we don’t change our actions to match what we are learning. Or, if we do take action, we may do some service activities. Throw some money in the collection plate. We may even attend Bible study. But the question that comes to mind is, does our heart match our actions? Are we truly in obedience or are we making sacrifices to try to appease God so we can go on living life on our terms?
You see, he doesn’t want our sacrifice. And we can’t appease him by doing outward activities and then continuing to live our sinful lives with sinful desires on our heart. Jesus came to save us from our sins, but we have the power to reject his grace if we chose to do so. We get to choose sin, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God and receive His approval. If we do, we can spend eternity in heaven.
The best part of all this, is we don’t need to know any of it to begin receiving the benefit of His grace. We can simply invite Him into our hearts and then start the process of getting to know Him. If we take a wrong step, there is forgiveness. And we start again.
The biggest concern I have is I see so many Christians out there that are doing it on their own. They claim to love Jesus, but they aren’t willing to invest the time or energy to learn more about Him and what He taught in His ministry. They don’t realize that there are so many false teachers out there that don’t rely on scripture and are leading them down the wrong path.
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people who say they believe in God, but they can’t just accept that there is only one path to heaven. I actually just had that conversation with a group of people yesterday. As I think about it now, I’m not sure that I was entirely obedient in the situation, because instead of launching headlong into the conversation I took the opportunity from one of the others in the conversation to change the subject. I did extend the invitation to continue the conversation in another more appropriate setting at a later date though.
I love that no amount of law-keeping, self-improvement, discipline, or religious effort can make us right with God. The only way we get it is by trusting Jesus. And getting to know Him. That should be our primary goal. There are so many things in this world that are meant to distract us from that goal. Success, power, even serving in the church can pull us away from our efforts to know Christ. It can seem overwhelming at times. I mean there is so much. In fact, this message alone feels overwhelming to understand, much less try to relay to you.
But the fact is, it isn’t by my effort that you are listening to today, but rather the Holy Spirit guiding me. I don’t have to know it all and I don’t have to do it all. I simply do the best I can and He will take care of the rest. In Philippians 3, Paul talks about how he strove for being all that he could be. He had one of the most adversarial relationships with Jesus and then did a complete turnaround and became his greatest advocate.
But the beauty of it is, we don’t have to know it all to begin. Our job is to act on the guidance we’ve already received. If we make excuses that there is too much to learn, we will never start because there is always more to learn. But if we start where we are, live out what we know, we will be on the right path. In other words, we need to take action. A constant quest to learn more without living out what we learn will keep us stuck and will prevent us from living out our purpose in life.
As I reflect on what I’ve just said, I am realizing that we are constantly striving for more freedom in our world today. We crave the freedom to do the things we want to do. We want time to enjoy life. But as I look at my own life, I worked so hard so I could earn all of that. But I honestly didn’t get it until I quit working so hard for it and started trusting God to provide it.
Contrary to what the world believes, obedience is the path to freedom. It doesn’t limit us, but rather frees us to let go of all the burdens that society places on us and allows us to focus on the things that are really important in our lives. It allows us to stop the never-ending search for fulfillment and meaning and sets us free to live it in our day to day actions,
The peace that comes with letting go of all the worry and stress that we carry trying to keep up with the world’s standards is worth more than all the money and gold in the world.
And it is free and it is unlimited. Every single one of us can have it. How much more amazing can it be?
As I conclude this post, I have to admit that I struggled with being obedient to the call to share this message. I’ve been working on it for longer than I have any other episode, and I felt so much resistance to just doing it. I pray that the Holy Spirit guides you to hear it in the spirit in which it is intended. And if you are reading to this and have questions about how all this can apply to you, please reach out to me. I’d love to visit with you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this today. I urge you to pick up the Bible today and every day this week and see what God is calling you to be obedient in. It’s not as scary as it may feel and, in fact, is the most liberating feeling you will ever experience. So don’t just learn how to obey…go do it!
If you know of someone who you feel could benefit from this message, please share it with them. They, too, might be longing for More. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the person who encouraged them to begin to live their More?
