A thought by Larry Osborne (2015-04-01) from his
book, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture (Kindle Locations
741-742). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
That is so true isn’t it? But that is not the end of the thought. Larry goes on to say, “But that’s not really
obedience.” It really isn’t.
He then says, “But let’s be honest.
When things go south, our theology often goes out the window. When the path of
obedience doesn’t make sense, appears too costly, or doesn’t seem to be
working, we’re quick to blaze our own trail.”
We know best. Surely He doesn’t want me to do that? But here’s the key, “We haven’t learned
obedience until we do what he says despite our doubts, confusion, or concern
that his way won’t work out… A lot of
the things God wants us to do don’t make sense in a spiritually hostile
environment. They seem counterproductive. Consider some of his most basic and
well-known commands: love your enemies, submit to authority, and forgive as
we’ve been forgiven. All of these things are easy to pontificate about when our
Christian values dominate the culture. But they aren’t so easy to defend when
our enemies are powerful, those in authority oppose us, and the culture at
large mocks the very things we hold most dear. But we must. These are the things he commands. It’s what
learning to obey is all about.”
His way is best. Go read in the Old Testament the story of
Joseph and then in the New Testament read about the Apostle Paul’s life. Or how Jesus handled his last hours before his
death. Really, did it make sense that Jesus should die? But he was obedient. He said, “Father forgive them, because they
don’t know what they are doing.” He forgave
them because God told him to. Kind of
like those people in South Carolina who saw their Pastor and other’s killed
before their eyes but they reached out in forgiveness to the one who hated them
and did it.
Oh we are obedient to the things that
we agree with but what about those things that don’t make sense?
How obedient are we then?
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