Obedience

“Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”   

 - Matthew 4:20

Sometimes I wonder at how closely I obey God’s call on my life. I know there have been times when God has clearly placed a calling on my heart that I obediently responded to, and from that amazing things were accomplished. But I know that for every time I did obey, there are millions of other times when that obedience did not happen. When I did not respond to God’s call, for this reason or that excuse. When I didn’t obey because I was not open to hearing that call in the first place. When I waited or delayed my response and did not obey immediately because of fears or doubts.



But it is amazing to me that there are so many times when God has proven His sovereignty through His calling of so many, and how greatly He blessed those who obeyed. The most obvious comes in the calling of the disciples (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20). Jesus is just beginning His ministry here on earth, and as He is walking by the Sea of Galilee, He calls to Simon Peter and Andrew and says “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). In much the same way, He also calls James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Now, I can just imagine what must be going through their heads in this moment. They are asked to leave behind all that they know, the familiar, their comfort zone, their family, their career, their home, their source of income, their lives as they know them in exchange for following Jesus. With the advantage of hindsight, I know I would like to say that of course, had I been in their position, I would have made the same choice to follow and obey Jesus instantly. But Peter, Andrew, James, and John haven’t grown up hearing about Jesus as I have. At this point, they did not trust Him as their personal Lord and Savior, as I do. They haven’t seen Him perform miracles and heard Him teach about loving God and others. They haven’t experienced the fulfillment of the cross through the very One that calls them. And yet, with all of the reasons not to, they follow Him. And not only do they follow Him, but the Scriptures say they immediately  leave everything behind and follow Him (Matt. 4:20,22). They don’t take time to be sure the family they leave behind will be cared for. They don’t debate the pros and cons of the decision. They don’t wait for a better offer to come around. They do not seek advice or counsel from other important people and influences in their lives. They instead, in the insanity that Christ instills in those who follow Him as viewed by this broken world, leave their nets. Immediately get up. Follow Jesus. Obey.

A recent devotional I was reading (from Our Daily Bread) described how the Air Force trained pilots during the Vietnam War to respond to the ‘call’ of a buzzer, signaling them to act and get to their planes. They were trained to respond immediately to that call. The first thing I related this to in my own experience is something at camp called a Lost Swimmer Drill (LSD). There are many layers of safety in place at the waterfront area of CHBC, but if there is the chance that a camper is not accounted for, a siren will sound from all over the grounds and the staff will spring to action. Before campers arrive during staff training, we work to learn our jobs so that when that siren goes off, we may immediately act. And that preparation paid off, because at those times during the summer when that siren sounded (which I will forever remember as one of the worst/scariest sounds I have ever heard), we immediately responded and did our jobs.

In much the same way, God has a calling for each of us. It may be a life-long calling that turns our worlds upside down like He did in the lives of His twelve disciples, or it may be something that seems as miniscule as the call to pray for someone God has laid on our hearts. Whatever that call is, as Christ’s followers, our response should be that of obedience. It should be that of immediate obedience. And yet, so often we delay. We put off. We avoid. We don’t immediately obey.

In all honesty, the story that I often relate to in my obedience toward God is the call of Moses. Through one of the most seemingly obvious callings in the Bible, God uses the physical sight of a burning bush and speaks to Moses of what he is called to do – to deliver God’s chosen people out of the hand of the Egyptians (Exodus 3-4). And so, Moses receives his calling. Seems simple enough. Again with the gift of hindsight, I would imagine that a burning bush that is not being consumed and from which God is calling my name would be enough for my immediate obedience. Yet I know that in reality, my reaction would not have been much different than Moses’ reaction. Moses hears God’ call for him, and yet he responds with his fears and doubts – five times he tries to deny God’s call. First, Moses says “who am I to go to Pharaoh?” And God responds that he does not go alone, for “I will be with you” (3:11-12). Then, Moses has the excuse that he does not know the name of the One who sends him to Egypt. God replies that Moses is to say to His people “I AM has sent me to you,” and that His name is YHWH (3:13-15). So after Moses has a name to bring to Pharaoh, his next excuse is that he has no proof to bring to Pharaoh that God means what He says. And naturally, God shows Moses signs (changing his staff to a serpent, turning his hand leprous, promising to turn the Nile to blood) of His sovereign power above all (4:1-9). At this point, Moses is running out of excuses relating to God’s omnipotence, so he then turns to his own inadequacies as a human (here’s where I really start to relate!). Moses tells God that he is not eloquent and is easily tongue tied. God’s response? “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (4:11-12). BAM! After that, Moses surely cannot have anything else in his playbook to avoid immediate obedience anymore, right? The only thing Moses has left is complete desperation, saying “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (4:13). Now, that shouldn’t sound familiar to any of us, right? We’ve never heard and known God’s call for us and asked Him to change His mind (or worse, that we just know God’s got it all wrong), right? We don’t present excuses to God as to why we don’t obey, do we??? Finally, God does agree to send Aaron with Moses to assist him, and it is only then that Moses finally obeys (4:14-20).

There is nothing immediate about Moses’ obedience. Yes, he does obey God and lead the chosen people out of bondage and fulfill God’s calling. Yes, Moses obeys. But it is not until he has made excuses, expressed fears and doubts, challenged God, and exhausted every other path he could think of. And still, God is faithful. Even when people don’t immediately respond (as the disciples’ example illustrates) to God’s call, but instead hesitate and wrestle with their calling (as Moses did), He is faithful. He will always bring about His perfect plan in His perfect timing, without letting our broken, sinful humanity get in the way.

I know that for me, I so often find myself building up fears and doubts that keep me from immediately responding to God’s call. But that’s not what God wants of me. He wants me to not delay or avoid His plan for me, but rather to immediately obey. It is then that God’s will is accomplished and He can use me, my work, my service, my life for His perfect purposes. And I don’t mean to say that God’s call is always obvious or evident to me in ways that warrant immediate response. Even now, there are many things on my heart that I am praying for wisdom and discernment about. About my future, my summer, my spring, my now, my tomorrow, my relationships, my priorities, my talents, my service - the list goes on. But I do know there are many times that I could obey in a faster manner than I do. And so, I pray for the strength to surrender to immediate obedience.

I am (for the third time now!) reading through John Piper’s book “Don’t Waste Your Life.” I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from that book concerning the fact that there is an entire broken, sinful world thirsty for the fulfilling, holy living water found in Christ, and it is our calling as Christians to spread the Gospel and the love of God with those who most desperately need it. There is no greater calling than this, and it is my prayer that we may follow the example of the disciples and respond to it with immediate obedience.

"My joy grows with every soul that seeks the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Remember, you have one life. That’s all. You were made for God. Don’t waste it."  - John Piper