LIFE QUEST
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, MSG
Text: Verse 6 – “Building lives of obedience into maturity”
(All other references are quoted from NASB unless otherwise stated)
A boy had been disobedient. His mother sent him to the corner and said “you sit there” to which he responded with folded arms slumped in his chair, “I might be sitting on the outside but I’m standing on the inside.”
Disobedience – an opposite response to expectations of another person, system or order
Where it all began…
• Genesis – God had created Eden, from the Latin meaning “place of pleasure”. Imagine an exotic tropical island and you will scratch the surface of the exquisiteness of Eden!
• Last creation was Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
• God would visit the garden every day. Genesis 3:8 “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” (Before all this they were not shameful about their nakedness) 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Everything went downhill from there and we’ve been on banana peel ever since. We don’t like “not to” language – “do not”. It is what St. Paul spoke about in Romans 5:19 – “through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…”
Our LIFE QUEST is one of building lives of obedience (MSG, 2Cor 10:6). Many of us have learned that the more obedient we are to God’s authority the more we grow like Him, the closer we get to Him and the better life is because of Him.
Impressions to my spirit that should be shared with you, that God wants to impress on your heart as well.
1. OBEDIENCE IS LEARNED
Play movie clip ACE OF HEARTS (:57)
Hebrews 5:8 of Jesus – “Although He was a Son, he learned obedience…”
Jesus did not learn obedience in the sense of having a corrupt nature or a tendency to disobey as is our case. He would however learn obedience by facing something that was a real choice for Him and something that would not be easy to choose – the Cross.
If Jesus was to understand how difficult the road of obedience is for us because of our nature to choose otherwise; if Jesus is to help us in our weakness and understand our tendencies, He could only understand with a temptation not to obey.
In this sense, Jesus had to learn to obey – to make the right choice; the choice of obedience.
• We learned to drive a vehicle and were taught how to OBEY traffic laws, signs
• We won’t ‘get it right’ naturally. We don’t always understand at first that running through the tube or up the ramp will be a life-saving exercise along the way of life; we’re slow to realise that jumping through hoops of “do-not” or “do this” or “go there” is always for our protection, for our good and for our abundant life-experience! We can’t make sense of having to parallel-park as part of the driving test, until we drive downtown and it’s the only spot open.
We will learn obedience to the will of God as that will becomes known to us. We cannot know His will unless we develop disciplines of intentionally searching, seeking, and listening for Him and His instructions and directions for every facet of our lives. You have to want to know what God wants to learn what God wants. In the meantime God is patiently coaching in the right direction toward taking the right actions and making the right decisions.
Will you decide that obedience will be your LIFE QUEST?
2. OBEDIENCE IS LEARNED THROUGH SUFFERING
Continuing Hebrews 5:8, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”
Our first reaction may be one of “okay, I’m not interested. If I have to suffer to learn obedience I’m not signing up.” Actually it’s quite the opposite. Often, through our decision-making and choices (which many times are not the better decisions and choices) we bring on pain and consequences. If we had our time back, in most cases we’d like to redo or undo those choices. We learn obedience by dealing with the consequences of suffering through disobedience.
Dare we admit that we have times in our lives where we know what God wants in a given situation but we deliberate choose a different path? Sometimes we choose the path we know not to be right but we choose it because we think it’s the way to get a result we want. That’s what happens in this movie clip from “Mercy Streets”. Jeremiah is being framed to commit a crime to save his brother’s life. (Play Movie Clip, “Mercy Streets”)
What stinging words and smarting hit-home reality – sometimes we feel “it’s better to take care of things yourself even if it means going against God.” The end result of course is dealing with the consequences of suffering through disobedience:
• Bad debt because of bad choices
• I am firmly convinced that for most people their financial pain and troubles are rooted in personal obsessions at the expense of ignoring God’s call to financial stewardship. I’ll gladly discuss that with anyone who’d like to explore my statement further
• The marriage that hangs in the balances “for the sake of the kids”.
Probably one of our greatest enemies to disobedient living is self-confidence in our abilities and personal economy. It leads to a humanist attitude where God is ignored, even ignoring God through the wisdom and counsel of parents, leaders and associates. Commentator Barnes makes the point well: Jesus “has set us an example, and has shown that the most perfect obedience may be manifested in the deepest sorrows of the body and the soul. One of the objects of affliction is to lead us to obey God. In prosperity we forget it. We become self-confident and rebellious. Then God lays his hand upon us; breaks up our plans; crushes our hopes; takes away our health; and teaches us that we must be submissive to his will. Some of the most valuable lessons of obedience are learned in the furnace of affliction.”
If we can walk through the pain and suffering of disobedient choices; if we can stop beating ourselves up and decide I’m going to learn to make better choices; I’m going to learn through this experience how to make obedient choices, the suffering will turn to beauty; the pain will be transformed to joy; the plodding will be transfigured into exquisite living!
Will you decide that obedience will be your LIFE QUEST?
3. OBEDIENCE PRODUCES BETTER RESULTS THAN DISOBEDIENCE
Everything really boils down to a simple choice – obey or don’t obey. Reap good results or bad results (Galatians 6:7-8). Live with regret or without regret. It couldn’t be better summarized than the words of the prophet Isaiah in the book named after him. In chapter 1:19-20 he says, “19 “If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; 20 “But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Of course we have to extrapolate the principles behind the cultural implications of the words at the time. For Israel God’s blessing and favour was understood in the context of owning land and having prosperous planting seasons. They were also very familiar with warring nations and conquests for domination. I will inject that maybe it would be good for us to stand back and question if the catastrophes and hard economic times we’re facing have anything to do with our rejection of God. I would be careful not to dismiss it haphazardly as unrelated. That’s more than I can judge.
However, the underlying lesson is as true for us as the people to whom Isaiah spoke. When we consent to God and obey God the outcomes will be far more positive and favourable than if we refuse to obey and rebel against Him. The sword language certainly warns us that things can get pretty ugly, as demonstrated in this next movie clip from “Annapolis”
There are many people who can stand with me and tell personal stories of painful situations that are the result of disobedient living; Costly situations where a piece of us dies, never to be recovered.
Will you decide that obedience will be your LIFE QUEST?
This leads us to the final point to be made today.
4. OBEDIENCE IS FOR OUR GOOD
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) have the flavour of the do’s and don’ts we talked about earlier. If we could learn however, that the do’s and don’ts are really road signs to avoid danger or instructions for our good, we would be anxious to listen. The problem is we perceive lists and rules as efforts to rob us of fun and other choices or options. For instance, Commandment #5 in Exodus 20:8-10 says this, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work.”
God was saying “Take a day off!” Now who in their right minds would have a problem with that? All His instructions are intended to connect us to Him and fill our lives with abundant blessings and goodness!
Then there’s Jeremiah 7:23. God is speaking: “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you…” WHY? “…that it may be well with you.”
There is also the familiar Jeremiah 29:11 when God says to Israel, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ’plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
We could list verse after verse. Get a concordance or search the word obedience on a web-based Bible study guide and read all the verses that come up. In nearly every situation you’ll see a positive, personal response to the act of obedience. It always was and is God’s plan that obedience is about blessing us and protecting us. It’s about saving us from death.
Will you decide that obedience will be your LIFE QUEST?
WRAP
• Are you posturing against God and His will?
• Will you let yourself believe that the do’s and don’ts are God’s ways of trying to protect you, not stifle you?
• Will you take time to learn the art and act of obedience?
• Dare we admit there are times and situations where we are deliberately rejecting his will because we want an outcome regardless of what God wants for us?
• Are you suffering because of wrong choices?
• Is there a part of you that is dead because of costly disobedience
• Do you want healing and to recover from that?
• Are you on the precipice of a death-form because you’re behaving without regard for God’s will?
• God has something amazing in mind for you. Will you receive what He wants to give you?
