Just Do It!

Sunday we talked about obedience. Our verse for the day was "I will hasten and not delay to obey Your commands." (Psalm 119:60)

We briefly looked at the story of Jonah's disobedience. God told him to go to Nineveh, and Jonah had a "better" idea, or so he thought, and ended up running away on a ship going the opposite direction. God didn't stop him from going. He let him buy the ticket. He let him board the ship. He let him get part of the way, until he was in the middle of the sea with no possible chance of escape. Then God did what He does with all of us when we disobey--He disciplined Jonah.

We used three assertions that I want to remind you of as you go through this week and meditate on what you learned. Meditate and apply it as you "hasten to obey!" The first one is, "Delayed obedience is disobedience." The second is, "Obedience demonstrates our love." The third one is, "Just do it!"

Delayed obedience is disobedience. - This is a pretty practical assertion. Think about Jonah and what he did. After God gives him clear instructions of what to do and where to go, Jonah turns and runs the opposite direction of what God told him to do. He was walking in total disobedience to God. After landing in the belly of a big fish, he ends up doing what he absolutely should have done all along. So I suppose it could be said that after some period of time (we don't know how long, except we know he was in the big fish's belly for three days) he decides to obey God. But he kind of got backed into a corner, didn't he?

Now I don't know how God looks at it, but if I were God, I would have not counted that as obedience, but instead repentance. I would have said, "Hey man, this hardly puts a star in your crown. I gave you no choice on this one." Thankfully for Jonah, I'm not God. After the word of the Lord came to Jonah (again), "Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh." (Jonah 3:3) So apparently God did what He does, and gave Jonah a second chance and Jonah got that counted as obedience.

Obedience demonstrates our love. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." (John 14:15) We are demonstrating our love in choosing who we obey. If we give into our own will instead of doing what God says, we are demonstrating love of self more than love of God. If we give into the pressure of others who want us to do opposite of what God tells us to do, we are choosing love for others over love for God.

God wants us to obey Him, and if we love Him we will. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Jesus even went so far as to call that commandment "the greatest commandment." It is kind of interesting that not only does obeying God's commands demonstrate our love for Him, but also that by loving our God we are obeying His command. It is kind of a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" question. By obeying, we love God, and by loving God, we are obeying. I'm gonna have to think about that one!

Just do it! - When God tells you to do something or when you know of a command in the Bible, don't hesitate! Just do it! When you hear God's command (or read His command), don't take the time to decide if you want to, or if you will, or if it "feels" like the best thing for you and your plans and your will. Just do it!

Remember God never tells you to do anything that is not for your good. Just do it! God always provide the strength to do what He says. Just do it! When you obey God, you are avoiding unpleasant discipline. Just do it! When God commands you to do something it is because it fits with a larger plan that you might totally miss if you disobey. Just do it! If He tells you to do something, remember that He is asking you to demonstrate your love for Him. Just do it!

So what is it that causes you to hesitate to obey His commands? What are your thoughts about demonstrating your love for God by obeying Him? How would your life be different if you were to decide to obey God quickly and without delay?

Talk to me! I look forward to hearing what you think!

Let God Lead and Do What He Says

Sunday we had a special speaker. She is an old friend of ours from our days at Vanguard University. She is on her way (in a couple of weeks) to Kurdistan (a section of Iraq) to start a Bible School to teach and train the Christians over there.

She gave us a lot of information about the political climate over there that I found encouraging. It, for all of us, was a call to pray like we never have before for that region of the world. Not only for the lost but for the Christians who are being persecuted. Sharon (our speaker) has always been a passionate person, and that certainly came through loud and clear.

But there were two important things that she said that I want to really underscore today. This will be a short post, but important.

First she talked about letting God lead instead of trying to lead Him. It sounds like a "no-brainer" but I have to ask how many of us have been guilty of trying to lead the Lord along towards OUR plan or OUR will or OUR vision? Too many of us, I am sure.

We get these ideas of what we want to do with our life (job, career, life partner, retirement, etc.) and we then pray that God will make it happen. What would happen if we all were to make those kinds of decisions based on what God is showing us and leading us to? What difference would that make in our lives and our ministries?

Sometimes we do things that are not God's will. Period. It doesn't mean they are BAD things or SINFUL things, but if they aren't God's best then we are missing out on being right in the center of God's will. We have great ideas and plans, but we need to find out if those ideas or plans are from the heart of God, or from our own heads.

When you are making big decisions about such things as career, college, or life partner you will be wise to pray seriously about it and NOT ACT until you hear from the Lord on the matter. You will also be wise to get some Godly counsel on it. (Oh, have Beverly and I learned this the hard way!)

The second thing that struck me was when she talked about the qualifications for doing what God tells us to do. The qualifications such as education (college and seminary) and accreditation and such is a construct of man. The Apostle Peter was a fisherman. Never went to college. Had no credentials (unless you consider a boat full of fish a credential) and yet he was one of the greatest Apostles ever.

Don't buy into the view that you must get training and education to do God's bidding. God may very well call you to get training before doing His bidding. If so, then do it! But if He doesn't tell you to get training, it may very well be that He wants you, upon hearing His call, to just go do what He said. Just do it!

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know or what you don't have. You have the Holy Spirit, and if He is telling you to do something, He will enable you to do it. One of my professors at Vanguard University used to say, "God's calling is also His enabling." True statement, folks!

So talk to me! What do you think about following God's lead as opposed to pulling God along in the way YOU want to go? What are your thoughts about "just do it?" I want to hear from you guys!