Who Do You Love? | The Question of Obedience
What is obedience? How does obedience impact your life?
The word obedience isn’t something that comes up a lot in daily conversation. Unless you’re in the middle of raising children; then you might spend a good deal of time reminding them what obedience is and why it’s important!
Seriously, though, what is obedience, and are we, as adults, called to be obedient? If so, who or what should we be obedient to? This question might make you slightly uncomfortable or even defensive. There are only two answers to this question.
The first response would look like this. “What?! I’m not obedient to anyone! I do what I want most days! My life is up to me! I determine what I do each day, who I surround myself with, who I will associate with and who I will not. I call the shots. If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me!”
The second response would look like this. “As a Christian, I believe that God is the author of life and that all things were made by, through and in Him. I’m not perfect, far from it, however I believe that though I have some freedoms God gives me, first and foremost I am called to obey God. He made me to love him and enjoy him forever. Everything and anything that flows out of my life must be in alignment with who I am in Him. It’s hard some days, but I love Him and strive to serve him with my whole being.”
Ask yourself, which of the two answers best fits you. Now ask yourself, is your life in alignment with the answer you chose?
Many Objects of Worship - Getting Clear with Ours
I think you would agree there are no lack of things in life to serve and obey.
The object(s) we choose to serve and obey determine our actions and direction of our lives. In other words, what you or I deem as most important will greatly impact where we spend our time, who we hang out with and the motivations of our hearts.
Here are a few examples of various objects we can serve and how these objects can play out in our lives:
I serve the object of possessing wealth. I serve this object because I believe that possessing wealth will afford me the status and comfort level I want. I believe that by having these things, I will achieve something greater than what I have now. I choose to hang out with people that also either have wealth or are on their way to possessing wealth. Because I have chosen this as my object, I work daily at the activities necessary to create more income for myself. All other priorities of my life are secondary to this.
I serve the object of my ultimate freedom. I believe as a woman, I am the best person to determine how I should live my life. I don’t believe that there is any authority higher than me that should tell me what to do. So, I advocate for groups and other people that also value this same object and spend time with people who also believe in a women’s right to ultimate freedom. Because I have chosen this as my object, I work daily to support Planned Parenthood, trans rights and other organizations that fight to ensure that women are the ultimate voice of their own lives. All other priorities of my life are secondary to this.
I serve God. He is the ultimate source of my freedom, joy and completeness. I have tried living for many other things, but none of them can compare to knowing that God came to die for me and my sins so I could live with Him forever. I believe he made me to love and enjoy him forever, so I happily obey his commandments. He will make sure that I have everything I need in this life because I chose Him first. Because I have chosen Him as my object, I work daily to know Him through the Bible, prayer and meditation, talking with him throughout the day and consult with Him in decisions I need to make. All other priorities of my life are secondary to this.
Now, you answer the question. How would you write out what you believe? What do you worship and how would you put that into words similar to what I wrote above?
Regardless of how you answered the question above, there is no escaping the fact that our hearts were made to worship. They were made to love, adore and chase after something.
The object of your chasing determines not only the rest of your life here on earth, but your eternity.
What do you chase? Is it status? Money? Possessions? A man or woman’s attention? Adulation? A promotion? Productivity? A bigger business? A new higher-worth network?
Or DO YOU CHASE AFTER JESUS?
Don’t just read over this sentence. Let me ask you again, and this time I want you to seriously consider what your answer to this question is. What are you chasing after right now? What is important to you? Here are some other questions you can ask to help you figure this out:
When you lay down at night about to go to sleep, what is on your mind?
What do you fantasize about, that if you had it, life would be easier and more pleasant?
Take a look at your calendar for the last couple of weeks. How did you spend your time?
What is your morning or evening routine like? What do you do during your down time?
There are many, many objects of worship. What is your favorite worship object? This object or objects you are worshipping is more than likely what you are obeying.
In 1 John 2: 3-6, John doesn’t hold back. He tells us that if we confess that we love God, then we will obey his commandments. If we don’t, then we are liars:
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
In today’s Christian culture in the United States, it’s acceptable for anyone to say they are a Christian, especially in the “bible belt” south that I live in. However, like one of my favorite t-shirts says, “Talk is Cheap”. Do we walk out this commandment of obeying God daily? Or do we just give it lip service?
Is the truth really in us, or are we lying to others and even worse, to ourselves?
Are we serious about being an apprentice, an ambassador for Jesus? Or do we instead just play Christian, skip out on church, have sex with our latest fling or live-in boyfriend/girlfriend, and otherwise dismiss in our hearts the very God we say with our lips that we obey?
Who do you really serve? What is the long-term outcome of that decision?
You will pay a cost for what you obey. If you chase after wealth, there is no guarantee you will get it. Or, if you do get it, no guarantee it’s going to make you happy or content.
There is a cost associated with believing you are the ultimate creator of your destiny. You could miss out on the much better life God had for you.
Obedience to Christ also has a cost.
A cost that will cost you relationships.
A cost that will cause you to stretch and grow your faith.
A life that could look much different than what you had planned for your life.
A life that is both exhilarating, exhausting yet more satisfying than anything the world could provide
In Luke 14:33, Jesus told us there would be a cost to following him, “"So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
So you see, no matter what you decide to serve, you will serve something. You will “reap what you sow”, so now is the time to make a decision.
Choose today what you will serve.
Next, choose what you will do on a daily basis to keep your priorities focused around the object of your worship.
John goes on to tell us in 1 John 2: 15-17:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[c]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Choose Christ. Obey him, even if it means having hard conversations, having to forgive yourself and others or distancing from certain people that don’t believe the same as you.
You have one life on this earth, and it’s just a breath compared to eternity.
Choose who you will serve wisely. Your eternity depends on it.
