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Throughout the year 2010 we have been taught the Bible based on the Theme Verse “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23 NKJV) that was presented by our Elder Richard Tio at our Watchnight Service on 31 December 2009.  The subject that repeatedly pops up in the messages by the various Sunday Ministry Speakers seems to be that of “Obedience” – to God.  Here is an article from the daily readings “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers on 2 November which is a good meditation for us to end this year.

OBEDIENCE OR INDEPENDENCE?

Our Lord never insists on obedience.  He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it.  We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him.  That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.”  “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself …” (Lk. 9:23 NKJV).  In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.”  Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now.  That is why He sounds so stern (see Lk. 14:26).  Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.  If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.  If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.  Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must.  And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfil my spiritual destiny.  My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant.  But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God.  Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed.  When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces.  If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.