God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them - not because of wilful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him." - Oswald Chambers
The Lord is terrifying. He is Creator and Destroyer. He is the Beginning and the End. He always was and always will be. Our minds cannot imagine Him and if we were to see Him our eyes could not contain Him (my theory is your whole body disintegrates in the presence of God because His glory is so great....but thats just a theory). The thought of seeing God's face or of hearing Him talk audibly to me is enough to poop your pants...and then some.
It's easier to stay distant from God, to pursue His ways but not Him. It is safer to listen to teachers of the Word, to read the Word, to talk about Christ in our social circles than it is to get naked before Him. It's safer for me to live my life without ever fully looking upward at Him, to honor Him in my actions but not bare my heart for His conviction. Obedience is hard. it is painful. It is messy. It is confusing. We feel better about our obedience if it is merely obedience to a human's interpretation of God's law. A pastor, a teacher, a mentor will all make mistakes. We may feel that we can interpret someone else's interpretation of the Word. We can listen to a sermon, agree with the message, and yet never change our thinking or way of life in light of it.
"Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God's servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying "Well that's only your own idea, even though I don't deny that what you said is probably God's truth." - Oswald Chambers
But when God comes into your life, there is no ignoring Him. He fills every inch with Himself. He invades your heart, your soul, your mind, your body. When the Lord speaks, you will answer. His holiness demands submission. When God commands, you cannot pretend you don't understand. You can't ask for clearer instructions. God commands and gives you what you need to obey. There are no excuses left. Now it's do or die. You either submit, obey, love God or you look into the very embodiment of holiness and say "No."
We all want to say "No" to God. We all want to do everything our own way. We have different pleasures, distractions, things that we delight in (or believe ourselves to delight in) and we don't want God to take it away from us or to tell us to go spend our time/money elsewhere.
Oh the mercy of God, knowing that His very presence demands our submission, He withdraws from creation to allow us free-will. It is always our choice whether or not we obey His commands, whether or not we listen to His voice. God knows that as soon as He puts us before Him, we must obey. How could we not? But the Lord wants our wilful obedience. He wants us to choose to love Him, even further than that He wants us to recognize that we don't have the capacity to love Him but to want to so much that we cry out to be filled with His very Spirit, that Spirit that brings us into direct communication with the Lord, that fills us with His love so that we can pour it back out in praise and worship to Him. How great is our God!
The shame of knowing that I have ignored my Lord, after everything He has led me through, after everything He has done for me...the shame overwhelms me. I can look back over my life and wonder how I could be so stubborn, so stupid to believe that anything less than obedience would be sufficient for God.
Sweet, sweet obedience. Loss of myself. None of self and all of Thee. Empty pockets and open hands. Willful slavery to the cross.
Weigh me down. Wreck my world. Strip me of my idols. Holy Spirit rush through me. Lord convict me. Christ lead me to the cross.
Good thoughts on obedience. Praying with you for obedience that glorifies God.
ReplyDeleteI do have concerns for so many who disregard biblical and pastoral wisdom so readily, in exchange for what is felt a leading from God. If a pastor,etc can be easily dismissed as not hearing from or speaking from God, then people will often dismiss what they hear themselves from God. It's often the disobedient heart that matters, not the messenger. Many who consistently choose their own version of what God vs others or the scriptures, are merely choosing what they want to hear and believe. And thus be obedient toward.
Definitely want to applaud your goal of obedience. Good to read sister.
I would completely agree with you, if someone is dismissing a pastor's message, well that has nothing to do with the pastor and everything to do with the listener. And if I at all sounded like I was telling everyone to stop listening to spiritual leaders, I'm sorry since it is completely opposite of what I'm trying to say.
ReplyDeleteMy point was to get before God without anything to shield us from His discipline, to listen to His commands, and then to obey them. Using pastors and spiritual leaders was just a comparison to show how much scarier it is to stand before God than it is to sit in a church service. It was supposed to challenge us to stop and think about our intentions, to ask if we are finding ways to hide from His instructions where ever that may be, and to push us to stand before God in obedience.
Spiritual leadership is a necessity in a Christian's life, that is evident in Scripture. And as you said a couple weeks ago, we all build on each other and make each other stronger (living stones). So to completely disregard teachings and preachings, love and advice and counsel of each other is completely contrary to life in Christ. I merely wanted each person to take an individual inventory and ask themselves the motivation behind what they do. To pray and ask God to reveal those parts of themselves that shirk from discipline and from obedience. To be active in their spiritual life, to continue to strive to be more like Christ in every way.