FESTIVAL OF OBEDIENCE
If you love me, keep my commands….John 14:15
If the rest of humanity owes it (love-laced obedience) to the Creator for its “formation”, we Christians owe it to Him for not only our “formation” but also for our “re-formation”. The human race says Apostle Paul “lives and moves and has its being in Him” (Acts 17:28). Had he not created Adam and Eve in the first place, there would be no mankind now, as it were, on the face of Earth. By the same token, had He not “re-created” us in Christ the moment we trusted His redemption plan (John 1:12/Romans 10:8-10), the word “Christian” (Acts 11:26) would not have seen the light of the day. So in all fairness, for the humanity in general which owes its very existence to the Almighty and for Christians’ in particular who owe their Creator and Redeemer two lives (physical and spiritual), there ought to be none more dear to their hearts than the Most High One (Psa 91:1) and His statutes.
Love for God can be exhibited only by heeding to His instructions (1 Sam 15:22, 2 John 1:6). At this stage, honesty compels me to admit that I could not have walked with my Saviour and Sustainer for more than three decades now but for His infinite grace and mercy shown in forgiving me so many times whenever I have sinned, and subsequently sincerely repented. That’s why a wise Christian put it this way “Christian life begins with repentance and is sustained by repentance”. Oh yes, chastisement sometimes received by me was painful but viewed in hindsight it did me a lot of good spiritually (Psa 119:71-72/John 15:2b TLB), making me fall in deeper love with my meticulous “Trainer”. That is why Christian life can also be described as “falling in love with the Almighty again and again”. Nonetheless while weaving some indelible truths around the Christmas story this time around, I intend to encourage love-laced obedience to our Heavenly Father to the best extent possible (2 Peter 3:14-TLB) by initially projecting how really beautiful and how really ugly obedience and disobedience appear respectively in the Father’s sight.
Just as love-inspired obedience pleases the Lord (Jer 2:2), hard-hearted disobedience grievously wounds His heart (Jer 14:17) for disobedience seen in its true light is nothing but hatred for the Creator. Quite often, we out of improper understanding, presume that sinning leads to hard-heartedness whereas in fact it is just the opposite.
Hard-heartedness breeds sin with ramifications all around. When there is hatred for the Creator, can the hatred for His people around you (His Creation) also be far behind? For instance adultery (disobeying His Command) taken to its logical conclusion is not only a hard-hearted disposition towards the Almighty (Matt 19:8) but also an act of outright hatred (nothing more, nothing less and nothing else) towards a spouse leading to painful consequences.
For better understanding, let’s take two tragic events of disobedience of far-reaching effects in the Scriptures which also incidentally bring to the fore the fact that sin can be of two types…Sin of commission (doing what our Creator doesn’t want us to do) and the other Sin of omission (not doing what He wants us to do).
While the crafty tempter did his part (Gen 3:1-7), what exactly could have transpired inside Adam’s heart before he sank his teeth into the forbidden? Undoubtedly love for eating the fruit far outweighed his love for His Creator, so much so the latter resembled hatred, relatively speaking that is (Luke 14:26) even as he went ahead with a flagrant act of disobedience. Speaking about the attributes of love amongst others’, the Living Bible sums it up in 1 Cor 13:7 wondrously thus:
If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.
Hmmm…loyalty…taking the Lord at His Word…expecting the best from Him …espousing His cause…in the wake of a temptation…well… were not all these conspicuous by their absence when the forbidden fruit became “God” in Adam’s eyes’ in that dark, poignant moment in human history? No wonder with his love for His Creator and wife at an all-time low, he was not only afraid to see the Almighty face to face (I John 4:18) subsequently, but he also practically disowned his wife (when confronted by the Lord) with the cold, disdainful words…listen especially to the tone behind those words…”The woman you put here with me…”.That’s hard-heartedness with capital “H” for you. Imagine the effect on Eve, when these words left Adam’s mouth…had not the very first husband sung paeans about his wife not so long ago in the days of happy obedience (Gen 2:23)? Doubtless Eve’s heart condition also would have been no better or worse. Dear Friends, I hope you are able to see disobedience for what it is. What havoc it creates in relationships!!!
Now coming to the sin of omission…let’s pick-up action from Numbers 13-14, when the erstwhile slaves of Egypt were standing at the threshold of the Promised Land. The good Lord even after liberating them from Egypt by awesome demonstrations’ of His power (which ought to have enhanced their love and faith in Him) did not straightaway expose them to rigors’ of war (Exodus13:17) but rather in the intervening period had done all that was necessary to strengthen them emotionally and spiritually for the Divinely-ordained, paramount Conquest of Canaan by many more powerful manifestations’ of His care for them (parting of the Red Sea, daily provision of Heavenly manna etc). So what was the reaction of the majority of Jews when given the Divine command of conquering apparently formidable, wicked Canaanites (Leviticus 18:24-25) with the readily available help of that same mighty power which had not only liberated them from Egyptian slavery but had also led them safely thus far? Heart-rending to say the least as evidenced by these words…
“Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”-Numbers 14:3-4
Hmmm once again …loyalty…taking the Lord at His Word…expecting the best from the Lord…espousing the Almighty’s cause…sure signs’ of their love for their Divine Protector which would have led to implicit obedience…all sadly took the backseat!!! What instead came to the forefront was their shallow love nay hatred for their faithful, Divine benefactor!!!Now contrast the disobedience of the disgraced lot with obedience of the Fab Four (Caleb, Joshua, Moses and Aaron) despite being fully aware of consequences’ of taking a positive stand for the Almighty when the majority mood was “let’s return to Egypt”…
“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”-Numbers 14:8-9
Does not their stand embody all that you would hope to find in a person who loves the Lord deeply (re-read I Cor 13:7)? Where there is love, can obedience be far away? No wonder, posterity remembers these four good men and of them especially Joshua and Caleb for all the good reasons. At this stage to further highlight the importance of love-inspired obedience let’s pit it vis-à-vis even anointed ministry so that given the choice we would be wise enough to chose the better part (Luke 10:38-42). Before taking even a proverbial step forward at this stage let me state that without the gifts of the Holy Spirit one cannot effectively minister for God’s glory. Again I re-emphasize that without the Holy Spirit anointing, I cannot preach/teach/counsel or write effectively for His Glory. However, I intend to shout from roof-tops nay mountain tops that eventually more than anything else (even the most gifted Ministry) it is a Christian’s faithful obedient life (I Cor 4:20) till the end (Matt 24:13/2 Tim 4:7-8) which would land him/her in the Promised Land.
Nothing, when I say nothing I mean nothing can take place of faithful, love-inspired obedience when it comes to pleasing our Creator to whom we owe both our very physical and spiritual lives. Just consider what happened to anointed Bezalel or Oholiab (Exodus 35:30-35) who had the great privilege of hand-crafting the very first temple (read tabernacle) or Medad and Eldad, anointed as they were with the prophesying gift (Numbers 11:26)? Did they make it all the way to the Promised Land? No, for when the push came to a shove, as it were (showing love-inspired obedience in taking up arms against the wicked, powerful Canaanites putting their precious lives at stake) they sadly failed the test. Finally what about Moses and Aaron themselves when it came to reaching the Promised Land? If the former in the Israeli history was the one of greatest miracle workers’ (before or after Moses did anyone with God’s power part the Red Sea?), the latter was the first-ordained High Priest. Well whatever be the greatness of their “Ministry” you know the answer as regards they reaching the Promised Land, though it can be said without a semblance of doubt that they are in Heaven now and one of them did set his foot on the Promised Land hundreds of years later (Number20:12/Luke 9:30-31). Oh yes, to whom much is given, is not much required of them (Luke 12:48)? Dear Friends, honestly there is no substitute for love-laced obedience. After being born-again now is there any fear in your heart that you would not ultimately make it to the “Promised Land” especially when fiery temptations come along (Acts 14:22) which would separate the men from the boys? Cheer up….Cheer up and utter a loud hallelujah….for firstly you are on the right track to the Promised Land...also thankfully remember how our Heavenly Father is willing that we should make it which He proves it by forgiving us umpteen times whenever we sincerely repent after temporarily veering off-track (1 John 1:9-2:1). Also never forget, as you are making "progress in your pilgrimage" while our Saviour and Great High Priest is interceding for us constantly, the Holy Spirit is giving us the needed power to obey (Romans 5:5/1 John 5:3-4 TLB) all the time. On our part, we only need to supply our will to obey and sustain the relationship with the Father till the end.
Now it is precisely in this background of what it means to love (obey) and hate (disobey) God both of which begin and end with an individual will focused in the said direction, let’s train the spotlight on the oft-repeated Christmas story involving the three members’ of the Holy Family. Ladies first…
Submit…
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”-Luke 1:38
Now was not virtuous Mary aware of the probable panic reaction her untimely pregnancy would trigger in her own immediate family circles’ and her little village of Nazareth where negative reports are prone to travel faster? While on the subject do not cruel slanderous rumors go quickly around the World and come back by the time truth finishes tying its shoe laces? Would there not be also a social backlash by way of her engagement being publicly cancelled by Joseph to whom, she was engaged? Finally throw in the possibility of her life ending prematurely by the Law-enforcers’ (Deu 22:13-21) of her village and the gravity of the problems her obedience to the Lord would bring in its wake emerges with no shades of grey. What did she do when it came to the crunch, as it were? Let’s return to I Cor 13:7 which encapsulated her ready, love-inspired, submissive obedience to Her Creator…
If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him,…
The result? Not a hair in her head perished even as she brought forth the most precious baby ever born into this World. Besides, do not her words spoken in complete submission (captioned Scripture portion-Luke 1:38) before conception still continue to inspire us?
Speed…
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded and brought Mary home to be his wife…Matt 1:24
That same night he left for Egypt with Mary and the baby, and stayed there until King Herod’s death….Matt 2:14
Not for righteous Joseph any delay when it came to acting upon the Lord’s commands. His life exemplified speedy, implicit obedience whatever be the cost. Coming out of one’s comfort zone is a tough ask. From being willing to take on public barbs (for “shielding the unrighteous” Mary) in the first instance and then being willing to go to a totally new place (Egypt) and starting life anew therein from the very scratch, so to speak, we see in Joseph’s acts’ of obedience the very definition of love as described in 1 Cor 13:7
If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him,…
Viewed from yet another perspective were not Mary and Joseph “bearing the cross” with poise for the glory of God long before Jesus spoke the words recorded in Luke 9:23…
Then he said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me!
Subservient…
For I have come here from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to have my own way.-John 6:38
I will freely do what the Father requires of me so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.-John 14:31
Can we ever fully fathom what it cost the Saviour to fulfill the Father’s will? Right from leaving the indescribable glory of Heaven and taking birth in the lowly foul-smelling manger on the First Christmas to dying an agonizing death on the cruel Cross, God’s Son experienced it all (Heb 5:8). His journey from manger to the Cross, also took Him through a life of poverty and obscurity in a humble carpenter’s abode which was followed by painful rejection by not only His countrymen at large (John 1:11) but also by his own kith and kin (John 7:5) of a God-pleasing Ministry done with no relative comforts or possessions which He could call His own (Matt 8:20). Hey, barring the clothes’ which the Roman Soldiers’ casts lots’ for (Matt 27:35) at the end of His life, Jesus (Son of the Richest Heavenly Father-Haggai 2:8) owned nothing else in His earthly sojourn! What sustained Him through all these? Only the joyous communion with the Father brought about by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21) at all times. Even this sole comfort was taken away from Him, as the crushing weight of all the sins of the World of all times started slowly but surely descending on His spirit (Matt 26:38-TLB) the night before His execution. Added to this, the next day at a time great physical pain from cruel whipping and excruciating agony of the crucifixion was already compounding His cup of woes, came that inexpressible agonizing moment of drinking fully from the cup of Divine wrath (Matt 27:46) as a sole substitute for all the sin of mankind. In short, at death He experienced Hell (all kinds of pain) on Earth, in order those who accept Him as Savior do not end up there!!! Woe unto those who do not receive such a great Saviour (who gave His all) into their lives in humble obedience to the Divine will (John 3:16, Heb 2:3). As for us who have received Him already and are walking joyously with Him, how can we ever adequately thank Him in return for all He done for us, other than this way…
And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy—the kind he can accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?-Romans 12:1 (TLB).
What does it mean to give our bodies as a “living sacrifice” other than living a life of love-inspired obedience at all times to His revealed will in the NT Scriptures (Matt –Rev) and the Holy Spirit’s instructions (Acts 9:31/Gal 5:16). If you resolve to do it this Christmas after having first accepted Him as your personal Saviour, then be assured Heavenly joy which none can take away (John 15:11) and Heavenly peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7/John 14:27) will fill your hearts and minds enabling you to “enjoy” an abundant life promised by the Saviour (John 10:10) at all times. Oh yes, our Heavenly Father gives us a foretaste of Heaven right here on Earth as He moulds us into His Son’s image (can sometimes be painful) before finally taking us “up there” to experience eternally the joys beyond our imagination (I Cor 2:9).
Both for joyous journey on Earth (which would not have been possible but for the first Christmas) and the Blessed hope of Blessed future, let’s rejoice. Again I say, lets rejoice. MERRY, JOY-FILLED CHRISTMAS TIME to you for the present and for all times to come!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An Unworthy Servant
