Active Obedience

Thought For The Week 329 By Val Warsop

The apostle Paul made some sweeping, thought-provoking, and sometimes paralysing statements in his letters to believers. One of these is found in Romans 6:16: “Don’t you realise that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey [Yahweh], which leads to righteous living” [New Living Translation]. Think about that for a moment. What [or whom] do you obey? None of us likes to think of ourselves as slaves, and yet we see people everywhere who have given themselves over to the rulership of others. We can be dictated to by fashion gurus, styling ‘experts’, designer labels, the music world, social media, TV; what is your ‘must have’?

Obedience is almost a despised word in today’s world, and is frequently neglected in our churches. Yet surrendering the will must surely be one of the most demanding and necessary duties. Disobedience ruined the idyllic Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, and subsequently deprived the entire human race. Obedience brings us back into favour with our loving Creator-Father. If we are believers in Yahshua, and have received His salvation, we have an obligation to be obedient. “Nothing genuine has been done in a man or woman’s life,” states A.W. Tozer, “until his or her will has been surrendered in active obedience.”

What is the reality of ‘active’ obedience? Yahshua’s Mother puts it like this: “Do whatever he tells you” [John 2:5]. The apostle Paul described it as ‘hearing’ and ‘doing’: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” [Philippians 4:9]. A.W. Tozer wrote: “Any real submission to the will of [Yahweh] must include willingness to take orders from Him from that time on.” The apostle Peter assures us that “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” [2 Peter 1:3, Christian Standard Bible, italics added]. Obedience is required, but we are empowered to overcome the weaknesses of our humanity, and enabled to offer to Yahweh all He demands.

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/1oKxSKSOowE

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