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Dear Friends:  Obedience. The very word can strike us with a crushing sense of guilt when we take an honest look at how often we fail in this category. Today's Digest offers a fresh look at what God requires of us. Don't be afraid to read it-- I think you will finish more encouraged about obedience than how you may have started out.
Are you feeling guilty that you have not spent enough time in God's Word this summer? Check out the opportunity at the bottom of this newsletter to work your way through Colossians with me by the end of August!
Please use the link at the very bottom of this email and forward it on to a friend who could use some encouragement! Thanks!
Love, Julie |
| The Obligation of Obedience |
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 My children were rarely rebellious, at least on the surface. When I requested that they complete some task, they were always very agreeable. "Sure, Mom, right after this [insert name of a game, TV show, chapter, etc. here]. I'll do it in a minute." They may have even had good intentions about doing what I asked. But rarely would the job get done without a second reminder and sometimes even a third warning.
King Saul was a guy with good intentions. When he received instructions from God concerning the Amalekites, he was totally agreeable. With not one word to the contrary, he went into battle with all appearances of being ready to fulfill God's command. Yet in the heat of the moment, he failed to obey. Rather than completely destroy the king and the city's goods, he chose to save the best to bring home with him. Why didn't he follow God's instructions? My guess is that he just couldn't stand the needless destruction of such prime livestock and goods. It seemed like such a waste.
Saul put his own common sense above the command of the Most High God. He would pay dearly for his decision. The prophet Samuel confronted Saul about his sin before he could even make it home with the booty. Samuel gave Saul the grim news: the Lord had rejected him from being king over Israel. (You can read the whole account in 1 Samuel 15.) His days of blessing from God were over.
Why was obedience such a hot spot for God? Moses faced the same kind of severe condemnation when he struck the rock out in the desert rather than speak to it as the Lord had told him to do. After a life of humility and obedience, that one act of disobedience cost Moses the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. Why did God react so strongly to that one sin?
To answer that question, we need to go back in time to the very first act of disobedience. It was in the Garden of Eden. God had given Adam and Eve permission to eat from every tree in the garden, save one. Of course you know the rest of the story: they couldn't get over to that tree fast enough. Satan was there, waiting for them. The first sin, which would be to the ruin of mankind and all creation, was in disobedience to the only prohibition they had received from God. That one act of disobedience set mankind into a downward spiral that would never recover until Christ came in the flesh to rescue us from our helpless state.
Through the disobedience of one man, "there resulted condemnation to all men" (Romans 5:18). That was the first Adam. At the time of that sin, God promised a second Adam, born of the seed of the woman, who would come to crush the head of Satan in one decisive blow (Genesis 3:15). This second Adam would fulfill what the first Adam did not: complete and utter obedience to God. "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:18).
That is good news for us. Our standing with God will not be affected by our obedience or lack of it. We will not lose His approval in a single act of disobedience as did Saul or Moses. Our standing with God never had anything to do with our obedience in the first place. Our acceptance with God is given purely through the obedience of Jesus Christ.
So should we cease in our efforts to live lives that would honor God, since our salvation does not rest on our own shoulders? Paul assures us that this would be a huge mistake in Romans 8. We have been set free from the slavery of sin--why would we continue to live as if it has a hold over us? We have been made alive in Christ. To miss living that life of freedom, replacing it with our old life of slavery to sin, would be to miss out on all of the wonderful blessings He intends for us. Continued disobedience would make a mockery of the perfect obedience He accomplished on our behalf.
So we ponder God's Word and memorize its verses in order to live lives which are obedient to Him. When you love someone, you find out what matters most to them and do it. Obedience is important to God. Our salvation was made possible because of the perfect obedience of the Son. It only makes sense to follow in His steps.
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| From My Blog Archives |
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Going for the Oreos
 The art of making a homemade pie crust is slowly dying out. Probably the main reason is convenience. You can buy a ready-made pie crust in the refrigerated section. All you have to do is unfold it, lay it in a pie pan, and bake. Easy shmeasy. Even easier: buy the pie already made! But purists like me turn our noses up at commercially made pies and pie crusts. I had the good fortune of growing up with a mom who was quite a baker and who made wonderful pies. So I made it my business to learn how to make a good pie crust from her before leaving the nest.
While my husband appreciates the rare art of making a homemade crust, my children were not always so discerning in their taste of baked goods. One day I offered my son a piece of fresh, warm apple pie. He asked, "Could I get some Oreos instead?" Are you kidding me? Dry, stamped out Oreos instead of warm, homemade apple pie? Who would choose that? Apparently, my children.
We shake our heads at the limited tastes of a child. Israel had the same kind of problem. They had chosen the lesser, the inferior, to what God had offered them. "My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
Water was an important commodity for those who lived on the edge of the desert. Its availability meant the difference between life and death. Roof tops were fashioned to catch what little rain fell. The collected water was stored in a cistern. There the water would sit, and without chemicals to treat it, it soon became stagnant and cloudy. The people were familiar with the difference between a fresh, clear, cold drink of water and a dirty, stagnant drink from a cistern. So this was a perfect metaphor for God to use to show the people what they were missing out on.
God had offered them a life filled with blessing and peace. The Creator of the universe was interested in sharing an intimate relationship with His people. Yet Israel had turned away from all He wanted to give them. Instead, they worshipped hand-hewn idols and listened to false prophets who told them what they wanted to hear. They went for the Oreos every time. They traded in a fresh, cold, crystal clear fountain for water from a broken, ill-kempt cistern.
We, too, pass on the best thing, and on a regular basis. How often do we turn away from doing the right thing because it doesn't fit our agenda? We want what we want. And so we trade the tremendous blessing of walking in step with the Lord for a dry Oreo and a drink of dirty water. Once in a while, we make the right choice. And as we gulp the cold, clear liquid down, it fills our soul with a thirst quenching satisfaction. And we wonder that we would make any other choice.
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| Summer Study in Colossians |
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Summer is a busy time, and we can often allow our many activities to force our time in God's Word to the back burner. It's not too late to change all that! Beginning today, I will be posting a daily devotional working through the book of Colossians. It is a power-packed letter from Paul to a group of believers meeting in the city of Colossae. It will take us about four weeks to complete the study. Please join me in going through the pages of this remarkable letter. Just click on this link: juliecoleman.blogspot.com and begin a month of short studies together! God's has promised that His Word will have an impact on us: "My word . . . will not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) Take a few minutes each day and allow the Word of God to dwell in you. It will be time well-spent. Be sure to pass the link on to others who might enjoy a month-long study this summer! | |
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