Picture this: A kid goes up to an electrical outlet and is about to touch a plug. A mother says “AHT AHT, DON’T YOU TOUCH THAT.” The child inches closer and closer, contemplating, tantalized by the thought of rebellion, smiling because it’s exhilarating. Then BOOM. You get shocked and, if you grew up like me, a whoopin’ as well. Classic disobedience. Classic display of choices and consequences.
That’s how we are when it comes to obeying God. It’s all fun and games until you get shocked.
Growing up, I didn’t really have many disciplinary problems. When I did get in trouble, it was for having a smart mouth and normally at the wrong time, but never for being just outright defiant.
It’s crazy how things have changed as I’ve entered adulthood.
There is almost NOTHING worse than a bad kid, but I can think of one thing: a disobedient adult. I know first-hand.
Why is it so easy to disobey? Easy, because we’re sinners by nature. That paired with the free-will God has given us makes it’s so much easier (and more fun honestly) to do what we want. But He gives us a choice.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the LORD your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.”
That’s as straight forward as it gets y’all. However, if you’re anything like me, you love a good loophole. I live for finding ways to get out of something. “Oh, well the bible didn’t say THIS specifically, so let me just go ahead and partake” or, an old favorite, “I’m going to follow THESE parts of the bible and completely ignore the rest”. Oh, how God nips that in the bud with the quickness. Lol. He has gotten my attention through numerous lessons and consequences, some having to occur more than once until I FINALLY got the picture. We all have those struggles that we just love to revisit for some sick reason, but eventually God brings you out of it. He’ll either do it by choice or by force, you decide.
That’s one lesson I’ve learned. God is not about to do what? Play witchu.
1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
There’s experiencing a struggle for the first time and being obedient while letting God bring you out of it and then there’s going through the same thing repeatedly, knowing you’ve already been taught this lesson. There’s a huge difference between the two. This speaks VOLUMES to me because I’m guilty of being like “Oh I’ll just go ahead and do it; He’ll forgive me regardless.” Like, how disrespectful is that? If we have already been brought out of something and we expect Him to just keep rescuing us, that’s not fair to Him. Don’t get me wrong though. Yes, He will forgive us. Yes, He will deliver us.
Let’s not play dumb though. God’s grace is sufficient but it is not to be abused.
Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
We have to also keep in mind that our obedience does not just affect us. There are people around us that are lost, searching for a light in this world. Take this blog, for example. Never in a million years did I think I would be doing this. I journal, but never write publicly. This is completely out of my comfort zone, but I heard God CLEARLY, when He told me to do this. Not only that, it had been confirmed by MULTIPLE people. At that point, I was like “Okay God, I hear you… but let me take my sweet time doing this.” Lol. AND ANOTHER THING. One of the realest quotes I’ve ever heard is “Delayed obedience is still disobedience.” Whew. WHEW. That still snatches me up, TO THIS DAY. God wants you to move when HE says move, not when you feel like it, because sometimes you won’t.
But it’s bigger than that.
Living by example is such a key element in this walk, man. Not to mention that people already think Christians are hypocrites. Why is that? Because a picture of perfection is painted when it comes to Christianity. It’s not always thoroughly explained that a Christian’s goal is to STRIVE TO BE LIKE CHRIST, knowing that you’ll never obtain perfection, but to still aim to be like Him. In that same breath, it is our responsibility to be that light and uphold these principles to the best of our ability. You never know who is watching. Anyone from a non-believer to a Christian that is trying to figure this whole thing out could be waiting on your obedience to experience a breakthrough. I’m making it my life’s mission to not be the rotten apple that makes the other apples around me rot, but rather the cute little domino that pushes all the other dominoes in the direction of Salvation.
Watch me work.