Tenth Anniversary: Acts Of Obedience

This week I’m reflecting on ten years of writing devotions. The one question I get asked constantly is, “How do you do it every day?” I give a simple answer, but it’s more complex than that. My answer is, “It’s an act of obedience.” More than anything else, I write because God told me to write. It doesn’t matter how I feel about it or how I’m feeling that day. I obey. Obedience isn’t based on feelings. I believe it transcends feelings. I don’t allow my son to obey only when he feels like it. Why would God expect anything less from me?

The follow up question is usually, “Yeah, but what about when you’re on vacation or holidays?” I write. My faithfulness to do what God asks isn’t based on where I am or what’s going on around me. It doesn’t matter how tired I am either. My act of obedience has to take priority in my life. Being a servant of God isn’t something you do. It’s who you are. You can’t just do it some of the time. It doesn’t work that way. To be a servant who doesn’t do what He asks would be like the servant who took the talent and buried it in the sand. He didn’t get the reward, but the two who did something with the talents did.

The response Jesus gave to these people in Matthew 25:21 was, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” (NLT) You can’t receive God’s praise or be given more responsibilities in the Kingdom until you’ve been faithful with what little He’s asked you to be obedient with. For me, that means staying up late studying and getting up,early writing. For you, it’s going to look different. Whatever it is, treat it like an act of obedience and give it priority in your life. God will reward your obedience in this life or the next.

Photo by Yuri Efremov on Unsplash