A devotion on Obedience and Sacrifice

Obedience is the hallmark of our simple faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I remember during my formative Christian years, we used to sing an old hymn. The chorus reads like this: Trust and obey for there is no other way. To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 

This obedience is best seen in our master Himself. The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:8 - And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! If Jesus Himself obeyed the father to fulfil His mission on earth, how much more you and I.

 

Obedience to God is based on three important principles: 

1.     Obedience is Steadfast in Love for the Lord.

In fact, our love for the Lord is very much tied to “obedience”. Jesus said in John 14:23 - “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” If we truly love the Lord, then obedience to His commands is the natural repone of our love for Him. 

 

Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave us His final command. Matthew 28:19-20 – Go, make disciples of all nations…The late Dr John Edmund Haggai said, “His last command should be our first concern”.  I think that most Christians know the Great Commission and its demands. They also know that those without Christ will be lost in eternity. The question is how many really take the Great commission seriously to do it. One thing that distinguishes a Haggai facilitator from the rest of the pack, is that the facilitator is not just a teacher or a transferer of head knowledge, rather a practitioner of the subject he or she facilitators, especially the Great Commission. We do this because of our love for God and for what Jesus did for us on the cross. We love Him because He first loved us and our obedience is proof that we love Him.

2.     Obedience is Stimulated by the passion for the lost.

Ending gospel poverty is not just a catch phrase or a slogan, but the heart’s cry of every Haggai facilitator, or is it?  I am reminded of the Apostle Paul. He was the destroyer of the church before his conversion. We know how the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus and how that encounter changed his world upside down. Paul says in 1 Cor 9:16 - Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! Paul says in Rom 10:1 - “Dear brothers and sisters the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.” I believe this must be the cry of every facilitator, rather the cry of every born again believer in Christ.  

3.     Obedience is Sustained by the sacrifice for the Lord.

If we are serious about ending gospel poverty, we must be willing to pay the price. The Apostle Paul is a great example. Speaking before king Agrippa and defending his unquenchable quest to end gospel poverty, Paul proclaimed in Acts 26:19 - “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.  But that obedience did not come easy for Paul for anyone who has seriously responded to end gospel poverty. 2 Cor 11:16-33, Paul tells us of the sufferings that he had to endure in order to end gospel poverty. In Acts 20:24  – But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Paul further narrates how he was willing to even lay down his life for the sake of preaching the gospel.  

If we are indeed serious about ending gospel poverty, we must be willing to Obey and make the Sacrifice. 

Otherwise what we do will only be “all wax and no wick”.

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