Immediate, Unqualified Obedience

So this was the question in my Bible study this morning...

Which entitlements do you think are too valuable to give up for Jesus and your life of following Him?

Entitlements are privileges that we believe we have a right to have. So, to personalize this—what about my self, my life, my possessions, and my position am I willing to fully submit to Christ?

I don’t know about you, but I can always—immediately—give the right answer to most questions of this nature. I can spiel my Christianese as fluently as the next pew sitter.

But let’s break the question down and realistically ask this of ourselves. In what area of my life am I saying “no” to Jesus?

Practice listening prayer by praying over this question while writing it down. Take authority over your mind and wait expectantly to hear from God. Write down the reply you hear in your thoughts—all of it, even if it doesn’t make sense at first. Then respond to the response. Repent if that is necessary and move closer to living a life like Jesus.

The next question in my study is the one that held me up quite a while this morning...

Do I live in immediate, unqualified obedience?

Well....ummm....NO!

I hesitate often. I want to obey. In my heart I may will to be obedient. However, my response—my reaction time to the choice to obey—is delayed.

Sometimes I am uncertain of God’s request. What then? I should immediately come to Him and ask for His confirmation of the request.

Sometimes it is necessary to allow time to wrap my mind around something I’ve been asked by God to do or say. This is taking ownership of the request. This is being prudent in order to align my thoughts, my words and therefore my actions with that which would be pleasing to God.

Sometimes my hesitation is simply delayed obedience. If you’re a homeschooling mom, like me, I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase before—Delayed obedience is disobedience! Yep, caught!

What God has asked of me occasionally goes undone because the opportunity is missed. Time does not wait for me to obey. Occasions do not stand still while waiting for me to move. Acts of love are missed—lost forever—when I decide something isn’t important enough to follow through on right away.

Whether or not I like to admit it, I determine if a request is worth obeying. I judge whether it’s worth my time, my focus and my attention. Whether it's worth my expending myself on God’s behalf.

No request that God makes of me is small in His eyes—only my own. Size is unimportant to God. My willingness to obey (or not) matters just as much where the small stuff is concerned as it does with the big. Impressions of effectiveness are not for me to judge. It is only that I obey!

My desire is to be so hungry for Jesus that my life parallels His in humble desperation. I am so not there yet! But I keep seeking Him, keep searching His face, keep asking Him questions—I just keep coming back to Him and He always meets me where I am. I love knowing that His heart is pleased when I choose to come to Him. My time spent with Him will never be wasted—only rewarded by more of Him!

So will yours!