Obedience Is

Genesis 12:4

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”

Jan and I were in Vienna, Austria visiting Val and Mark Kimmel and one day Val ask if we would like to go to Czechoslovakia for a day visit, she wanted us to get a taste of what it is like to live behind the Iron Curtain.  It was a long drive and the two kids were in the back seat being kids when Val told them to do something, I do not recall what she asked of them, but I will never forget what came from her mouth only moments later.  Whatever Val ask the children to do was somewhat ignored by the children, and Val said, “Children, what you are doing is not obedience, obedience is doing what you are told, the very first time, with the right heart attitude, anything other than that is disobedience.”   

What profound words came from that young mother, and it was as if God was speaking directly into my heart, “Bob, anything less than that is disobedience,” Wow!  I thought that day was about going behind the iron curtain, but what I took away was, I have an obedience problem; often when God speaks to me, I am just like those children in the back seat.  But Abram was obedient, he went as God had told him, he got that part right, but we can also learn the importance of listening to all that God has said and then implementing, yes it is important to execute precisely the commands of God.  Abram fell short on doing this.

Often I read past or do not see the bigger picture when reading the Scriptures, this is what God told Abram to do; “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  What is partial obedience, it is incomplete and what we should learn from the Scriptures is that partial obedience opens the door to the enemy and his schemes or methods, and there in lies the problem of incomplete obedience.  The enemy of our soul has never stopped using the line he used on Eve in the garden; “Did God actually say,” and so like Abram we try partial obedience and suffer the ramifications of not doing what we are told.  If you read the rest of the story, it becomes clear that allowing Lot to go with him, only caused pain and suffering to Abram.

From the Back Porch,