SOME THOUGHTS ON  --OBEDIENCE--

"The biggest fundamental problem in the world today is the lack of respect
for authority"
     "Obedience is the foundation of character."
            Obedience has to be "learned".

Webster says that obedience is "to comply with a KNOWN command, law or duty;
the abstaining from what is                      prohibited."
Therefore obedience is to be in submission to a known command. It is an
absolute necessity according to scripture if we are to know and love God.
Six times in John, Jesus speaks of our love to Him consisting of "doing His
will." John 14.21 teaches that the ONLY time  God reveals Himself to us,
(makes Himself known to us) is when we are obedient. The Bible lays a great
deal more importance on total obedience to God and His word, than we have
realized.

Obedience has to do with hearing, and doing. James comments on folks who
hear, but do not DO. It is a choice of the will and is based on what we
believe about God and His truth. Acts 7.29 says that "Our fathers would not
obey.." Disobedience to a Sovereign God is second only to rejecting Christ
as Savior in significance, and is actually a form of unbelief. Obedience
starts with parents as our authority, but rapidly expands to involve
teachers, police, government, the boss, rulers, husbands, conscience, and
especially, God and His word. You cannot be obedience to what you do not
know. There are a great many children today, who have never been taught to
be obedient to their parents, with awful consequences later on!

Partial obedience is disobedience! It is also possible, and common, to
believe and obey a lie. That is why we must know the Word of God. We are
responsible to know God's will and to submit to His authority, but to study
the Word of God without being obedient to it, will simply incur more guilt!

So what are we talking about here? Obedient in what areas? Well, we should
certainly start with the most important command of all...."Love God with all
your heart, soul, mind, and body." The second most important, Jesus said,
was to love your neighbor as yourself. I had never ever given those two
serious thought! That launched me into thinking about "just how obedient am
I?" I took the time to go through the Bible and make a list of areas and
commands that I needed to heed. My list included such areas as prayer,
thought life, time management, reading, memorization, study, marriage, job,
fellowship, giving, my speech, love, character, kindness, self- control, and
a host of others. I kept asking myself, "How are you doing with that one!?"

My suggestion is for you to thoughtfully make such a written list and
evaluate whether or not you are an "obedient" person, or not. Like a lozenge
in your mouth, think about it till it dissolves into your spiritual
bloodstream. It made for a huge change in my thinking, and I am sure it will
be to you. If it does, drop me a note with your findings.

Jesus said, "IF ANYONE LOVES ME, HE WILL OBEY MY TEACHING."   John 14.23
 --bh---


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