Friday, August 15th: “Obedience”
“Still
other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or
thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear…the seed falling on
good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the
one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown.” (Matthew 13: 8-9, 23)
It is easy to fall into the deception of religiosity. If I
go to church and sit under the teaching of the Word, then I will automatically
be changed. Or, if I go to God’s house, then he will be pleased with me, and
his favor will rest upon me. From the parable of the sower, we have seen that
it is not merely listening to the Word, but rather coming to hear with an open
and receptive heart, allowing the Word to take root within us, by laying aside
our worries and troubles so that God can be the sole possessor of our hearts.
But there is one more lesson in this for us.
James writes, “Do
not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who
looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect
law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have
heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1: 22-25)
If my
heart is truly receptive to the Word, then I will not only listen and
understand, but I will then be compelled to do what the Word says. Often, when
God speaks into our life through his word, there is something greater that he
is calling us to. He may call us into a deeper relationship. He may call us to
love someone that we don’t get along with. He may call us to serve his people in
a way that we had never thought of. He may ask us to give something up that we
have been holding on to. He may ask us to move, to leave everything behind, and
follow his leading. If I merely listen to his word, but then do not follow
through with what it says, I will find myself consciously disobeying the Word
of God. Therefore, I may find myself in a worse position than the person who
does not understand the Word of God. They disobey because they do not know,
while I choose to disobey even though I know better. I should not expect
blessing, but rather discipline. I should not expect to produce a crop of 100,
60, or even 30, times what was sown, but rather I will find a Word that has
been choked and is unfruitful.
But this
is a message of good news, and fortunately for the people of Israel, they
followed through in obedience according to the Word of God. Listen to what is
said about them:
“Then
all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate
with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known
to them...The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary
shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day,
the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.”
(Nehemiah 8: 12, 17)
The
people celebrated like never before. They did not allow the worries of the
famine to consume them. They did not allow the fear of a possible attack to
paralyze them. Instead, they worshipped and acted in obedience according to the
Word of God, and because they did this, their sorrow and mourning turned to
great joy! They reaped the blessing of the harvest. Where they were once weak,
now they stood strong. For, the joy of the Lord was their strength!
Pastor Jonathan Goble
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