2008 and Obedience

Today, as we begin a new year, I am thinking ahead: imagining, praying, wondering what I will be looking back one year from now. I invite you to join me. As we together consider the magnitude of God’s promise, as we contemplate His incomparable character, where do you see yourself and your church in a year?

One year from now, what will be the same? In twelve months, what will be changed? In fifty-two weeks, where will you have grown? In 366 days (yes, 2008 is a leap year), what will God have done among us?

It is fascinating to consider that our great sovereign God, Who declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), gives to us the responsibility of cooperating with Him in the fulfillment of His plans. Indeed, the next twelve months, though they ultimately are in His hands, will be molded in no small measure by the manner in which you and I respond to God’s Word.

And how should we respond to God’s Word?

With simple, trusting, sacrificial obedience. Let me repeat:

simple

trusting

sacrificial

obedience.

Let’s unpack that set of terms and see how they apply.

Simple obedience means that we just do what God says. If God tells you do some something, just do it. Don’t talk yourself out of obedience by making it complicated, fancy or clever. When God says, “Love your neighbor,” don’t think of all the impediments to loving your neighbor: just find something simple to do, something that conveys love, and then do it. When He says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,” don’t overcomplicate it: just do what He says.

Trusting obedience means that you leave the outcome in God’s hands. You do what God says, and trust Him to do what He says. It’s obeying God without a safety net, except for His promise to be God and stand behind His Word. That’s trusting obedience.

Sacrificial obedience is the place where faith is most deeply tested, and therefore most richly strengthened. It means holding nothing back from God, as you say to Him, in effect, “Everything I am is Yours already, Lord, so in whatever way You ask me to obey You, I am ready to do it. The cost doesn’t matter. I only want You to be glorified in me.”

That last sentence is what characterizes the very heart and core of obedience: “I only want You to be glorified in me.” Can you say to the Lord regarding your life for the next twelve months, “Lord, in 2008, I only want You to be glorified in me”? It is for that purpose that you are alive on this planet.

No matter what He calls you to do, resolve now that your response will be to render unto Him the obedience He deserves — simple, trusting, and sacrificial — so that He may be glorified in you. By His Spirit’s power, may New Years Day, 2009, reveal a greater glory among us than ever before!