Radical Obedience

Did you read my last blog? If you have not, I suggest that you read it before this one as I will be taking what I wrote there a notch up here. A quick recap of the last blog—I talked about spending time with God, making that a priority and being doers of the Word rather than mere hearers. Let us move a step up now—doing even the hard things. 

When we read the Bible, we get information. The Word requires us to apply it—obedience. It is only the application of the Word that leads to transformation. We are meant to reflect Christ’s behaviour. I have come to realise over the years that a lot is ‘caught’ than taught. I have two children who are constantly watching me. I can teach them the Bible, tell them how to behave and pray with them but if I behave differently, they are going to mimic exactly what they see. Picking up from last week, we look into James 1: 22-25 and Mathew 7:21,

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 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.

Mathew 7:21

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

A clear-cut warning—“only the one who does the Father’s will enters the kingdom of heaven.” So, not just hearing is important, if you’re not doing His will, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes, the things that God challenges us to do are not easy; it takes a lot of strength from the Holy Spirit to enable us to be obedient to His will by subduing our flesh. So, make sure you are always connected to the Holy Spirit—ask questions, converse about your daily routine and involve Him in everything you do.

When is the last time that you read the Bible? What did it ask you to do? I challenge you to read the Word, circle the verbs and jot it down on your ‘to-do’ list. Revelation 1: 3 says,
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

In this verse, it says again that it is not just about reading or hearing but also giving it priority and applying it in order to be transformed. And the time is NOW. The coming of the Lord is near and it is high time that we prep ourselves for the grand event. I strongly believe that we are living in the end times—I don’t know when He will come but it is definitely drawing close.

The main Scripture portion for today’s article is Romans 12. I would recommend reading the entire chapter but over here we would be looking at a couple of highlight verses.

Vs1-3:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behaviours and customs of the world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. It is only then that you will understand God’s will for you—that which is good, pleasing and perfect. In this entire chapter, Paul exhorts us to be selfless—to surrender our lives and bodies to God. The same way Abraham surrendered and offered his son to God—neither did he hesitate nor did he try to reason when God asked him to sacrifice his son. This is exactly what it means to do the hard things!

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Phew! Harder things to do!
Bless people who curse you?! Really? Why would I even entertain thoughts of people who have wronged me? Forget about praying for them! —these are the usual reactions to these set of verses. These bitter feelings are expected and natural but we are called to stand on higher ground. And standing there means that you pray and extend grace even to the ones who have wronged you. Now, that is God’s standard for you.

I know it is super difficult and anybody who has gone through betrayal and deep-rooted pain would find it impossible to even forgive, forget blessing the person. The irony is that, doing what God says in the Scripture, although hard can be very freeing. It can free us from the leash of bitterness and pain, thereby enabling us to live a life of joy.

It is a choice—the one where you and you alone make the decision. And this is application of the Word, which would result in transformation. Forgiveness is, in itself, a process. It takes a lot to walk that path but with God by your side, it is doable. The walk, sometimes, can be refreshing and rejuvenating, as a matter of fact. Afterall, it is what the Lord wants you to do and when one walks in His direction, He makes a way. So, start with forgiveness.

Romans 12 takes things a notch up—it asks us to grieve when our persecutor grieves, and rejoice when they do. A little too much, some would say. Feelings that people have towards their wrongdoers are often vengeful. It consumes us and, this attitude of revenge can do more harm than good. God knew this bit and therefore, He said, “don’t take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath!” He sees your suffering and He knows what to do, how to do it and when it should be done. So, do not conquer evil with evil but conquer by doing good—hard, but not impossible. These are the standards God has for us to live a life that is honourable and pleasing, not just to the ones around us but also to God. When we follow His Word, word to word, people will know that we are children of the Most High God—super humans, of sorts. You must have read multiple times of the heroes in Hebrews 11—faith heroes, some call them. I call them “radically obedient heroes”. All they did was trust God and obey His Word.

Quoting A. W. Tozer—“we can be in our day what the heroes of faith were in their day; but remember at the time they did not know they were heroes!” The Word says it is impossible to please God without faith. So, we believe Him with all our heart, mind and strength. And this believing means complete surrender and dependence on God’s directions—RADICAL OBEDIENCE. You may ask how does this obedience developed. Well, it comes from a place of love. When you truly love God, you take Him for His Word and obey Him without question.