- Chocolate
- Porterhouse steak flavored dog food
- Candy
- Coffee Mate
As one would guess, the kids ate the chocolate and the candy without thinking twice about it. When it came to the Coffee Mate and the dog food, there was hesitation.
But Why?
Why didn't the kids eat the coffee mate and dog food in the same way they ate the chocolate and candy?
Belief
Coffee Mate goes into coffee, and dog food is disgusting.
We live what we believe don't we?
We believe chocolate has an attractive taste, therefore we eat it.
We put gasoline in our cars because we believe and know our cars need it to run.
We wear warm clothes in the winter because we believe they will keep us warm.
Paul (in Romans 1:5) puts it this way, "obedience that comes from faith."
It comes to me as interesting when obedience doesn't follow faith. In virtually every area of our livese, we make decisions and assumptions based on what we know and believe to be true. This is why I find it interesting when someone makes the statement that they believe in Jesus. To truly believe in Jesus means to soak up and absorb every word that came out of His mouth, and live accordingly. To have faith in Him means to drop our own focus of life and follow His. It means to look at the world through His eyes. It means to embrace the Spirit of God like he did. To have faith in Jesus means to refucus and reprioritize our lives around His teachings of the kingdom of God. Some would call this sort of thing a "change in direction." Repentence. New Creation. Born Again. Become like new. And from our faith in Jesus, obedience will naturally follow.
Obedience that comes from faith isn't strict rules or vigorous religious disciplines made by man. Obedience that comes from faith isn't the yoke of mankind cast on our necks. Its not a burden. Its not depressing.
Obedience that comes from faith in Jesus is life-giving. Its a way to live right here and right now in this life. Obedience is looking to Jesus as a Savior and a teacher. It means to follow and apply His teachings to our lives. It means to practically apply His way to our day.
Many of us have progressed and evolved in a culture that seems to exemplify faith and works as being two separate identities when it comes to the catagory of the religious. The masses declare to have faith, but would someone please show me the same amount of obedience that stems from it. Maybe we're caught more in the iconology of Jesus and less in the applicability of Jesus? Maybe we simply don't have faith.
"I sure do like what He did for me, but I don't want to do anything for him." Is this faith?
If there's no obedience, maybe there's no faith.
James 2:17-18, "...faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead....I will show you my faith by what I do."
Eventually we have to ask ourself questions.
How serious are we about this Jesus dude?
Do we have faith?
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