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Who I amReside in St. Louis Missouri currently, Lived in California & Colorado.Husband.Father.Pastor.Football Enthusiast.Teacher.Learner.Dreamer.Reader.Friend. [thoughts & comments blogged here are my reflections living life trusting Jesus as God]

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Observations of Obedience


Every week I have the chance to teach publicly about 3-4 times a week.  From small groups, to teaching at an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) club on a school campus, Jr High service or High School Service a Large part of my time is spent preparing a message that is worth a teenagers time.
This past weekend I had the privilege of moving my teaching focus from teens to adults as I filled in on our weekend services.   Our church is in a series looking at the Gospel message from Genesis to the Death & Resurrection of Jesus.  Sunday I shared on the importance of the book of Joshua in this plan.

What I will do is point out 1 thing that stuck out VERY vividly as I was reading through the text.
Joshua 5:15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Now I had seen this text before and was aware of the parallel to how God spoke to Moses, but what really stood out was the last 3 words, "Joshua did so".  An act of Obedience.

I've been processing obedience a lot lately.  
Obedience to my wife's request.  Obedience to a boss.  Obedience to the cravings of my stomach for lunch.  Obedience to God's nudging.  Obedience to my own desires.

I'm really good at being obedient when I want to & know I have something to gain.  I am not so good at obedience when there is an unknown or a chance "it might not work out so well for me."
Joshua's life was a repetition of obeying God based on his experiences of God's faithfulness.  Joshua did not always have something incredible to gain, in fact often what he gained was more labor and hard work.
So here is how I've been trying to approach these last few days.  Am I trying to play god with my life or am I being obedient to God with my life?

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