"SIMPLE OBEDIENCE"

“SIMPLE OBEDIENCE” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). “As the child who refuses to obey his father until his father first explains to him the particular reasons for his commands, shows that he acts not from love and trust, but that he disbelieves and doubts, and prefers the conclusions of his own feeble understanding to reliance upon superior wisdom, so the individual who must know the philosophy of God’s commandments, and satisfy himself as to their propriety before he will obey them, believes not in God, but in himself. As it would have been beneath the dignity of the Divine Lawgiver to make obedience to His laws contingent upon man’s approval of their fitness, so has He, in perfect harmony with His own character and the truest interests of mankind, simply delivered His commands and prohibitions, with their rewards and penalties. In all cases, it is sufficient for the true believer, in doing or abstaining from any act, to know that God has ordered or forbidden it, and in keeping a Divine command to realize that “obedience is better than sacrifice” and “to heed the Word of the Lord is better than offering the fat of rams!” (I Samuel 15:22)” (Robert Richardson – Adapted.) Isn’t it good that God expects us to simply believe Him and obey His commands without expecting us to first understand all reasons for and meaning behind them? That’s because while some of God’s requests are relatively clear and easily comprehended, others are not. In fact, some of the things God asks of us will require a lifetime, perhaps an eternity, to fully “plumb the depths” of their meaning! And what about the illiterate, the uneducated, or under-educated, the “simple” or feeble-minded, for whom an intelligent understanding of things high and holy and spiritually abstract are totally impossible? Shall these be excluded? God seeks in us a loving, trusting, and obedient heart. Whatever He commands is assuredly best for us! And He will reward us for our obedient faith! And, by and by, as we continue to grow in grace and knowledge, we may very well understand the Divine philosophy behind it all! In fact, I’m certain we will!
Larry Atkin, Preacher