“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
If there is one word that our culture dislikes, it is “obedience.” In my many years in the ministry I have had countless conversations about the faith. One objection I heard over and over had to do with the clear call for repentance and obedience. People talk about all they are afraid they will have to give up. They would “like” to be Christians, were it not for the demand of Jesus to forsake pleasures or relationships they hold dear. Somewhere in their conversation would come these words…”I just want to be free to do my own thing and to follow my own heart.”
That desire sounds so right and good; how could anyone object to it?
Question: Have you always done well…have you always done good when you followed your own heart? The synonym for “heart” in America is “desires.” I remember following my own heart, my desires, into some of the most painful and sinful episodes of my life.
Our heart…our desires…can be so strong that the thought of following Jesus in Life, of being obedient to him, actually becomes repellent. But think with me for a moment about what the Bible says about obedience.
First, the word translated obedience is of interest. It is “akuo.” It means, “To hear.” Obedience is, “effective hearing/listening,” and links the process of taking in information to using it effectively. The emphatic form of “akuo” is always translated, “to obey.”
Illustration: I have a son who is mechanically gifted. When he was late in high school and early in college he kept bringing home beat up cars, usually of the 4 wheel drive, really big, and really needy ($$$) variety. He would drive one of these rolling wrecks up the driveway before buying and exit with that big smile to ask my advice. “What do you think, dad!?” I would try to tell him that the rusting heap of potential he saw was an open door to the poor house, which he could little afford. I would cite my not inconsiderable experience. I would share stories of my misadventures with cars…misadventures that became very costly. I would advise him strongly to get something smaller, less used, more practical to get him through his college years.
Do you think he heard me? Do you think he listened effectively? Do you think he relied on my experience and concern as he made his decision?
Oh my, no!
Yet our age is full of people who have set aside the satisfaction of the moment, or the week, or the month, or even of years, in order to gain a greater prize or serve a greater cause. I know of no great endeavor of life, no great dream or vision, that does not require sacrifice and discipline.
Learning to listen to God, and then to follow him, is the worthiest of goals and the greatest of enterprises. We wish to live a magnificent life. By every step of listening and then following we build a solid foundation on the rock solid promise of God that the end of our building here will open the door to his magnificent house forever.
Prayer: “Great Master Builder, I know you’re not done yet, not with me and not with creation. Take the wax of self-will out of my ears so that I hear your voice, listen, and follow. As surely as you led Abraham to his promised land, and then his descendants to their promised land; as surely as you David to might and Solomon to wisdom; as surely as you led Daniel to Babylon to be your voice and John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus…and then as surely as you led Jesus through sacrifice so that I might live…as surely as all that I ask you to lead me in all my ways. Help me to hear you so effectively that I obey your will, both in this life and in the next. In Jesus name, Amen.”