on obedience...
Jeremiah 1.4, 5: The word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
John 14.15: “If you love me you will keep my commandments...”
Obedience is the cornerstone of a Christian faith that is alive and compelling. Faith without obedience will lack both integrity and substance. In 1937, on the eve of the Nazi horror, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Only he who believes obeys. Only he who obeys believes.” Disobedience is faithlessness in action. People do not disobey their Savior out of love; we do so out of mistrust, fear, greed, covetousness, pride, or a will to power. Disobedience is never undertaken as a step of faith— it settles for the sure (secure?) thing. When we choose disobedience, we are intentionally deserting Christ’s Kingdom and choosing the world (compare Colossians 4.14 and Philemon 24 with 2 Timothy 4.10). A disobedient Christian is an AWOL Christian. Beware, such men and women are unpredictable and not trustworthy... do you think anyone who deserts their Savior will not do the same to you?
Obedience is an affair of the heart before it ever becomes a crisis of conduct. An obedient woman or man is one who is responsive to God’s Word and ready to do His bidding. The prophet Jeremiah clearly exemplifies this. When the people of God were in a desperate situation, God answered their prayers with an anxious, inexperienced young man— a country boy from a poor village with no startling gifts, very conscious of his weakness, and desperately in need of love and understanding. Surely God had picked the wrong man— Jeremiah certainly thought so!
“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” he said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a boy.” But God answered, “I am with you and will rescue you... I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1.6,9)
Why did God choose Jeremiah? It was for one reason only— because he was willing to obey.
Mark this well: if a person is willing to obey God then
weakness,
inexperience,
age, and
lack of ability
do not matter because God’s Spirit within that person is more than enough for every situation. Do you believe this?
Throughout the history of the Church, God has taken young, inexperienced people and equipped them with His Spirit for great work. Think of David, Samuel, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, John the Baptist, and Timothy. Calvin wrote the first edition of his Institutes at the age of twenty-four; Wesley founded Methodism at twenty-five; and Ian Murray McCheyne, who shook Scotland with his preaching, died at twenty nine. Oswald Chambers, author of the best-selling devotional book of all time, My Utmost For His Highest, was dead by forty-one. Aimee Semple McPherson began national crusades at 26, founded a movement in her early 30’s, started one of the nation’s first national Christian magazines and dedicated Angeles Temple at the age of 33. At the time of her death her bible college had trained thousand of church planting pastors and global workers before dying at age 53.
Another young man once heard someone remark, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.” The young man stood up and replied, “By the Holy Spirit, I’ll be that man.” His name was Dwight L. Moody.
In these critical days, God is calling out and looking for women and men with an obedient heart who confidently say, “By the Holy Spirit I’ll be that woman… I’ll be that man.”
Will you be such a person?