I’m not a big fan of obedience (except, of course, when it’s my children being obedient to me!).  There’s something about the word obedient I find disagreeable, and with it, I quickly feel opposition rising.  But what if I told you the obedience God requires of us isn’t blind obedience, but rather a compassionate wrestling for what is right; a faithful quest to listen for God’s voice, and to implement the most loving course of action?  In fact, the whole of Hebrew doesn’t even have a word that means “obey.”  The word we translate most frequently to “obey” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew verb “shema” which actually translates more closely to “listen, hear, internalize, understand, and respond.”*  (That’s starting to sound a lot like love, listen, learn and lead…)  We’re asked to listen, understand and act.  With this idea, opposition begins to dissipate.

Now what if I told you that we are called to be obedient to love?   Love wants only good things.  Love will not deceive, use, or manipulate you.  Love may call us to action and may be unsafe, but it is always good.  “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Cor 13:4-7)  

Christ was obedient to Love.  In obedience to Love, Jesus came to earth to live among us and willingly died on the cross for us.  When we look at the cross, may we remember Jesus’ sacrificial love and honor it in obedience to Love.  Let us listen to God’s love story, hear and internalize it, and then respond in love to God and others.  Read I John 4:7-12, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally!

Annie

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+4%3A7-12&version=NRSV

*https://www.slideshare.net/williamhaines/obedience-and-conscience (slide 5)