Wisdom

Deu 12:28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Obedience. That is what Jesus calls us to. Not as an arrogant dictator, but as a loving father. When my children were young, I required complete obedience. When I said, "Don't play in the street," I wasn't out to deny them their rightful enjoyment of the superior pleasure of playing on asphalt rather than the grass in our yard. I was protecting them from danger they couldn't fully comprehend. Our life before God is like that. In his infinite wisdom and understanding, He knows what is best for us. His laws are not the unfair, restrictive rules of an almighty control freak. They are an expression of His love for us. Do we trust Him in that? Do we believe that everything He asks of us is His divine wisdom of what is best for us? Do we have faith in that? This kind of faith in His goodness and love will produce heartfelt and grateful obedience. Not the kind of obedience that is trying to get Him to like you. No, its the kind of obedience that flows out of confidence in His care over our lives. Its trusting that He is smarter than we are, and that if we obey Him, even when we don't really feel like it, things will "go well with you and your children after you forever." True faith will produce a life of restful obedience. It wont always be easy in the beginning, though. There will be those times when we really do think we know better than God what will make us happy and secure. There will be those times when everything in us cries out for some kind of pleasure that He has called us to say no to. There will be those times when we have to deny our own thoughts and desires, and simply trust Him by obeying His commands. When we do, He will always show Himself to be faithful and true. It may not be apparent in the first five minutes. It may take days or weeks or months, or sometimes even years for the truth to play itself out. But that's the life of faith. We have decided that He can be trusted, and therefore that obedience to His ways is always the right thing to do. Always.

Joh 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Lord, help me to walk in that kind of faith.