I know what I want and I am going to get it. No one is going to tell me what to do. No one is going to control me. I am going to live my life the way I want. It is my right to do so.
Oh really? Have you read God’s Word lately? God had to get my attention today as I was feeling independent and behaving as if I could do as I please, but John 14 makes it clear that is not true.
“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.’” John 14:23-24 NIV
So as a Christian I cannot do as I please. I must obey the teaching of Jesus.
“This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:17 NIV
What a tough one to obey! I cannot do it through my strength. I need the power of the Holy Spirit in me. Jesus did give many examples of how we are to love others. One way he said we can love others is to teach them about living for him.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19 NIV
How am I to go about making disciples? I do not have to figure it out on my own. God will confirm what I am to do just as he showed Abraham what he was to do. I am to trust God and, like Abraham, do as he commands even if it makes no earthly sense.
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 NIV
So Abraham was sent and later blessed because he acted on faith. He did not demand his right to undersand all God was going to do and how he was going to do it. Abraham just did as God was leading him. Oh, that I will do the same. I like to understand a whole plan before I start implementing it.
Lord, forgive me when I insist on my rights to do what I please and when I demand to know what you have planned for me.
Such an interesting way of looking at things. Being independent, I can certainly relate to wanting to do things my way and in my timing. I'm learning to yield. Everyday.
ReplyDeleteI, too, must obey the teachings of Jesus. However, my fault is that I pick and choose. I'll work on this set of commands Lord... I'll catch the others later.... hmm... not thinking that's what He had in mind.
I am by nature a very strong willed, tenacious, and independent person. God has allowed me to have various unpleasant training experiences which have been well spaced over the past several years. The most pointed and detailed training has happened over the past two years. I have been broken. Through all of the difficult situations I could see and experience God’s direction and love even though I was suffering emotionally. My purpose in life has been reshaped. My attitudes have changed. My goals are reformed. And I realize how sin-prone I am. The area of “my rights” is one with which I still struggle. God is currently showing me parts of my life which I am still claiming rights to but which really belong to him. I will be writing about them as God leads.
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