Obedience Requires Discipline

It is always toughest to do the things that should be done when we don’t want to do them. We may have other things on our mind to do. We may not feel like doing what we should. We may wonder why we have to do things when others don’t have to do them. We may try to put them off to do later.

There are many ways we can talk ourselves out of doing the things we should. We can say we are too tired and deserve a little break. We can say we aren’t really skilled enough. We can decide we will just let someone else do it for a change. We can even act like the situation doesn’t exist and hope it will go away rather than facing it head on.

There are as many reasons for not doing something as there are stars in the sky. We can usually justify all those reasons with some sort of excuse to help make us feel better about our decision. However, our job is not to make excuses and try to get out of doing what we should. We aren’t always going to feel like doing things when we get started; however, once we start God will help us carry on.

Our job is to get busy, to get going, to get up and take control of situations so we are being on task for God. God can’t work in a person who is always making excuses about getting up and doing something. God doesn’t want to give opportunities to those people who are looking for reasons not to do something.

We are to live in obedience to God in all that we do. He tells us not to be lazy in Proverbs 15:19, “A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an open highway.” He tells us not to procrastinate in Psalm 119:60, “I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands.” He tells us not to make excuses in Romans 3:19, “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses...”

Instead we are to be obedient in all we do. He doesn’t say if you obey some of My commands. He says obey all My commands in Romans 10:5, “For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.”

Obedience is not for the weak. Obedience is not for the weary. Obedience is not for the lazy or for those who make excuses and put things off. Obedience is for those who are willing to be strong in the Lord. Obedience is for those who are willing to get up and take action regardless of the circumstances. Obedience is for those who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

It’s time we stopped being lazy, procrastinating and making excuses. God has a plan for all of us. It requires us to get up and move away from what is comfortable. It requires us to grow up and stop thinking we are not worthy or skilled enough to do what He asks. It requires us to wake up and realize God’s commands are for us to obey and not take lightly. When we decide to obey, God can use us to make a difference.

1 Peter 1:13-16 “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.’”