I HAVE COMMANDMENTS TO KEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

I HAVE COMMANDMENTS TO KEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

It’s not really an issue of “can” I do what the Lord wants me to do; it’s an issue of “will” I.  How many times have we acted in ways that we know we shouldn’t, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves?  I know what the Lord commands so why don’t I do it all the time?  I am weak, just like you!

Let’s put it in a way we can all understand: I walk out of the house and my dog goes for the trashcan.  I come back home some time later to find the can tipped over and assorted items on the floor (usually a discarded butter wrapper that has been licked clean).  My faithful dog slinks, and I mean slinks, over to see me; knowing full well that he has done something he is not supposed to do.  I speak to him harshly and send him to the garage.  He knows he is not supposed to get into the trash, he is rather smart, but yet he still gets into it.  Is he really smart?  Is he really stupid?  Why would he do something he knows he should not do?  He is a dog and I doubt his conscience is as developed or as informed by Scripture as is mine.  That’s his excuse.  What is my excuse?

I, like any believer, know what Scripture says, “If you love me you will obey my commandments.”  It’s as easy as that, isn’t it?   Yes, I love the Lord; no I am not always obedient.  This is a problem; not just for me but for every believer.

Perhaps a tool to aid my/our obedience is a greater focus on His love for me?  My love for Christ is obviously imperfect; His love for me is perfect.  His sacrifice for me was without any thought to Himself.  His joy was to do the will of His Father in heaven.  His atoning death was the ultimate demonstration of love.  Perhaps a better application, maybe a fuller appropriation, of His love would help my obedience? 

In The Saints Everlasting Rest, Richard Baxter basically says that a better focus on what is in store for the believer for all eternity will aid our lives here in this temporary world.  He means that if we spent more time contemplating heaven we will be better prepared for it when we arrive because we will have given ourselves over to it while still in this mortal body.  Maybe an emphasis on being obedient is the wrong place to put our focus.  Perhaps our emphasis should be on Christ’s love and sacrifice for us, and from that our hearts will strive longingly to live in the same fashion?  Christ was obedient to the Father out of His love for Him and desire for the Father’s glory.  What do you want most in life, the Father’s glory or more of this temporary world?