Listen To Your Trainer Series

Many of you I’m sure remember Charles Barkley, the NBA Basketball star who didn’t want people watching him too closely. People were disappointed with his actions and attitude on and off the court and challenged him to be a better role model. His response was basically, “Hey, I’m a basketball player. I didn’t ask to be anyone’s role model and I don’t need that added responsibility.” As an NBA star, Barkley didn’t have the option to choose whether or not he wanted to be a role model. That decision had already been made for him when he signed a contract to play in the highly publicized NBA. The same is true for those of us who call ourselves Christians. Once we make that decision to follow Christ, people are watching. Whether you like it or not, or whether or not you think it’s fair, you’ve become an example for the family of God.

II. YOU WILL OBEY

Jesus, goes on to say, “IF”, then you will OBEY. Our culture and our world are not one keen on the word or idea of obedience! In a culture that has been turned upside down by liberal thinking, and a belief that there is NO ABSOLUTE truth, obedience is becoming relative just as truth has.

Can we go back to the concept of listening to our trainer for just a moment? Remember, we are attempting to build a better body, and there will be times when the trainer will tell us that we NEED to do something that we do not think is necessary. In the beginning, God told Adam and Eve they NEEDED to avoid the tree in the center of the garden, or they would die. Satan comes along and says, “Surely you will not die!” Our trainer tells us that we need to spend 30 minutes warming up so that we don’t pull a muscle and we say to ourselves, “surely I do not need to waste 30 minutes warming up.” Jesus says, I you love me you will obey . . And we think to ourselves, “obey, when it is convenient, not ALWAYS”

A little boy always went next door to play even though his mom had warned him against doing so. This worried his mom so badly that she asked him why he was so disobedient. He replied that Satan tempted him so bad and he did not know what to do. His mom then advised him to say ’get behind me Satan’ whenever he was tempted. She then built a fence around the house. This worked for a week, then one sunny afternoon his mom looked out the window and there was her son playing on the neighbors lawn after having cut a hole in the fence. "Jeremiah", she yelled, "come here!" She then said "did I not tell you to say ’get behind me Satan’ whenever he tempted you?" "Yes", the boy replied, "I said, ’get behind me Satan’, then he went behind me and pushed me through the hole in the fence." (source: jokes.christiansunite.com)

I have encountered this first hand, asking my own children why they have broken a rule, only to be told that the rule has changed, unbeknownst to me. I think that we Christians have a tendency to do the same with our loving Father. Obedience means that we will do what God says and we will do it His way, no greater example of obedience is there on earth than what Jesus did. And folks, it is really ALL about our attitude.