Tag Archives: 2 John

Willing obedience should be our testimony

open-bibleWilling obedience is different from reluctant obedience. If we are honest with ourselves, we all can remember the times in our lives when we did things because we were expected to do them and not necessarily because we wanted to do them. For those of us with children, we also often see this demonstrated as they will do what we ask but out of a lack of any other choice but to obey. How we do things tells others a lot about us, including the very basics about our character. Continuing with the thoughts of the previous two entries about being an obedient servant and having the proper attitude, it is important for us to realize that when we do the things we do for the Lord, we have other people watching us. Whether it is where we work, with our family, or even within our Christian service, the attitude of how we do things often becomes more important than why we do things. 

The testimony of willing obedience

When we choose to show willing obedience to God, it sets us apart from those around us that are lost or that may be less than sincere about their faith in God. Willing obedience comes out of our unconditional love of the Lord; we do the things He desires us to do not because we are expected to do them as Christians, but because we know that when we do them, we actually please Him. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil (Romans 16:19). Paul is commending the Christians within Rome that their obedience to the things of God; their willing obedience had become a part of their testimony. They were doing the things that Paul taught them to do not because they felt as if they had to as Christians, but because as Christians, they had the sincerest desire to do what the Lord would have them to do. When we do things out of willing obedience it does become a part of our testimony.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus taught all who would listen, Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:16 & 7:20). While the most common application of this verse is that we can tell someone’ spiritual health – if they are saved or not – there is also another application. How we bear fruit tells others about our walk with the Lord. What does our obedience say about us? Does our obedience have a positive or negative impact on our testimony? Are we identified as a genuine servant of God because of our willing obedience by those around us or does our profession for the love of Jesus surprise others? In a letter to Philemon, the apostle Paul wrote, Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say (Philemon 20-21). Just as with what Paul is writing to Philemon about, our obedience should be to the point that it can actually encourage others to continue in their faith. In Paul’s day, the seat of human emotions was considered to be in the bowels – the intestines was considered the center of our being. In our time, it is the heart that we consider the seat of the emotions. What Paul is essentially saying is that the obedience of Philemon actually encourages and refreshes his heart!

Willing obedience encourages others

Just Philemon was an encouragement to Paul through his willing obedience to what he had been taught. When we show willing obedience to the will of God, it encourages others around us as well. Just as Paul understood that Philemon would go above and beyond what was required, our obedience should also tell other Christians that we are willing and ready to go above what is required of us without being asked. Jesus taught a parable about three servants. Two of the servants, out of willing obedience and the sincere desire to please their master both were praised by him: His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21). Each servant was given talents – money – by their master with instructions to take care of his business while he was away. This parable teaches us that their testimony, or their demonstrated ability to be obedient to their master determined the responsibilities that they would be entrusted with while their master was away. Our willing obedience to the things that God has set before us also determines what God will entrust us do to for Him. If we are obedient in the smallest of things then he will entrust us with.

Our willing obedience to follow the teachings of the Lord and to do the things we know will please Him are considered worth more to Him than anything else we have to offer: Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8). To live justly and humbly before the Lord, we cannot simply be obedient because it is expected of us and expect the Lord to bless our efforts. We are showing reluctant obedience, of which the apostle James warns us, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). Obedience, when done out of reluctance, is just as bad as being indecisive. Sure, we are being obedient, but out of a sense of duty. The Lord wants us to be willingly obedient, because we want to please Him. Others will notice the difference in things done out of a willingly obedient heart versus those things we do because we feel we must.

Willing obedience brings its reward

When we choose, as a servant of the Lord, to do the things that He has set forth for us to do in willing obedience, He will reward us of our faithfulness and determination: Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24). Our rewards for our willing obedience come from Christ himself. When we are an obedient servant, we do our best for the Lord; the Lord will reward us for our service and our faithfulness.  The scriptures make it clear that the Lord will reward us with increased responsibilities: His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21), rewards that are not dependent on our position, but based on our service to Him: Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour (1 Corinthians 3:8), rewards that are worthy of what we have done for Him: For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward (1 Timothy 5:18), and finally, rewards that cannot be lost once earned: Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward (2 John 1:8).

  

Noticing, appreciating, and obeying the small things

Henderson Sidewalk

Earlier this year, as I celebrated my 43rd birthday, I decided that it was time to become more pro-active about my health. In June I mapped out a course that takes me from my apartment to the steps of the courthouse and back – a four mile walk that takes me a little over an hour to complete.  I have a busy day and being a creature of habit, I knew that I would have to make time for the walk – the only time that would work was first thing in the morning.  So, I began walking each morning between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m, nearly thirty minutes before the first rays of sunrise.  One morning I was running late for several reasons and started my walk closer to 6:00 a.m. and what I began to notice about my morning walk truly amazes me.

The picture above – an old sidewalk at the intersection of Main and Clay Streets in Henderson, Kentucky was something I never expected to discover on my morning routine.  Normally when I walk past this intersection, its still dark – but that particular morning, because of running late, the sun was up and I was noticing details about the town I live in simply because I was in a situation where I was more aware of my surroundings.  I was now aware of the things that I passed by every day on my journeys that I never knew existed and never gave a second thought to.  Shortly after I took the picture, I shared this picture in a Facebook photo album focused on Henderson and the immediate surrounding area, I wondered what blessings God has given to me that I have not noticed or shown him my gratitude because I have been too “busy.”  If I had not been walking after the sun had come up, I might have missed that little reminder of a bygone era of local history.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonike In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (I Thessalonians 5:18).  At first, its hard to understand what exactly we need to be thankful for – but everything literally means – EVERYTHING.  As I think about the apostle James and his writing to early Christians, Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:13-14), I am reminded that I am not promised tomorrow.  With that in mind, the very act of waking up in the morning, the four mile walk, the hot shower, the challenges of being the father of a three-year old daughter, and everything else I face each day now become the very things that I must stop and give thanks to God for the blessings of life.  

The apostle John reminded the early Christians he wrote that Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward (II John 1:8).  John is reminding his readers that we are supposed to be mindful of everything that we have as Christians – the gifts of salvation, forgiveness, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of our salvation – and in doing so, it will allow us to receive the rewards that the Lord Jesus Christ has set before us.  We do this as pointed out by the apostle James as he wrote But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22).  We gain our heavenly rewards based on remembering and by doing the things that the Lord Jesus Christ would have us to do.  We do these things by paying attention and being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I have found that it is not the large things that I feel the Holy Spirit leading me to that are the problem – it is the smaller things that the Spirit leads us to that we often overlook.  When is the last time you felt the Holy Spirit leading you to share the gospel or a kind word to someone you came across?  When is the last time you let the Holy Spirit lead you to buying a meal for the homeless man or woman you met on your daily routine. When is the last time you took time to pray for a co-worker that you saw was having a bad day or dealing with loss?  These are all small things in the eyes of man and often go unnoticed by many professing Christians. It should come as no surprise when Jesus taught those listening to him that day Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me (Matthew 25:45).  Those who are willing to feed the hungry, give living water to the spiritually thirsty, who offered a smile and a kind word to the stranger, took care of the poor, visit and pray for the sick, downtrodden, depressed, or visit those in prisons are the ones that are paying attention to even the must slightest leading of the Holy Spirit.  While they may not have the accolades of men, their deeds do not go unnoticed by a kind and loving God.

Although Jesus is teaching about alms, or the giving of clothing, food, shelter, or care to the poor, there is a spiritual teaching that can gleaned from it when He states Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:1-2). Those little things we do in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit may not be noticed by your family, your friends, or even your pastor, but they are noticed by God.