Obey

"It's such a funny word: obey." ~Bill Cosby

When I think about how I want to be remembered, I want to be remembered as a man who loved greatly, worshiped passionately in everything he did, and as a man who obeyed his Lord. I'm sure people will remember me for my laugh, too. I don't really have much control over that, seeing as how I just laugh well and often. When it comes to love and worship, I will probably post some other time about those things. I really want to talk about obeying with you.

A dear friend and I got into a bit of a discussion recently on obeying. I was teaching the youth ministry I serve that God may call you to do things that don't make sense, and that obedience is always the best answer. My friend and I were chatting later about the lesson, and he admitted he disagreed with me that we may receive a call that goes against logic, comfort, public opinion, and/or common sense.

My friend confesses that he also is a believer, which perplexes me. If he claims to be a believer, how can he then make a claim of belief which contradicts the stories of the Bible? We can't really claim to be believers if we don't really believe the Lord, or His Word. And as I read the stories of Abraham, David, Peter, Jonah, and so many others, not to mention Jesus Himself, they all did things that people around them would have called crazy or worse.

They did these things because they realized that God's call and leading was clear for their life, and the best option for them to follow. They did these insane things because they had faith, hope, and love. They had faith that the Lord would prove Himself faithful, no matter the circumstances or difficulties. They had hope in the good future that God had promised them, even if they couldn't see the promises on the horizon. They had love for the God who first loved them that committed to amazing and unbelievable promises for them. These simple things led them to obey and do crazy and awesome things for the Lord God.

Now, everyone of these guys with the exception of Jesus had times where they failed to believe and obey. I can clearly see that all these people had to fall into God's faithfulness at least once, if not many times in their lives. But they each at least had one defining moment where they stood against everything that made sense except for the voice of the Lord.

Even when we look at Acts 5:17-42, we see the early church meeting opposition, and counting it joy to face imprisonment and flogging for the sake of obeying the Lord. Verse 29 really puts definite words to it when the apostles say "We must obey God rather than any human authority."

I'm not saying this to excuse ourselves from submitting to our worldly authority. I am saying this to show that obedience does not always make sense. But obeying is always better than not. To quote a local pastor out here: "Obedience is rarely easy. But it is always fulfilling."

I hope you are encouraged to obey the Lord in every area of your life from these simple words. If you have thoughts or stories on obedience, please share them.