Day 6: Extreme Obedience

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When I was a kid
I remember when I was a kid, one of the things I absolutely despised doing was brushing my teeth. Yes, like most 7-year-olds, the idea of spending 3 entire minutes with a brush the size of my head and some pasty-goo was simply not so appealing. But my parents, being the good folks that they are, decided that having teeth would be an important part of my life and made sure that I brushed them every night before bed.

But in my cleverness to thwart their plan of ensuring shiny chompers for their son (and to relish in 3 solid minutes of wild freedom in the bathroom, which I mostly used to stare at myself in the mirror), I devised a plan: my parents would always check the toothbrush to make sure it had been used, so instead of actually brushing my teeth, I just wet the toothbrush, stayed in the bathroom for 3 minutes and put the toothbrush back. Voila! Freedom! I fooled them!!

And by "freedom," I am of course referring to the multitude of cavities and fillings and painful trips to the dentist that ensued throughout my childhood years, as well the drill-sergeant-ish experience that was my parents hovering above me during teethbrushing time for the rest of my days. They did finally stop a couple months ago.

Why do we act like this as children? Better question: why do we act like this as adults-- taking mindless shortcuts of disobedience, believing that it will actually benefit us, when the result is always the opposite.

2 Familiar stories
In my reading this week, I thought about 2 very familiar characters and stories in the bible, whose obedience is so incredible, we gloss-over it most of the time.

But first, a little fun.



Genesis 6:13,14,17
God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep. Build yourself a ship from teakwood. I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction." (The Message)

Noah, after changing his shorts of course, responds in a way that we accept so freely (because he's Noah, right?), but it is completely profound. After God tells Noah that he is going to have to build this giant, ridiculous ship and take his wife and children and 2 of every animal on the planet, Noah doesn't freak-out or question or ask for a different plan-- he simply obeys.

Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything God commanded him to do. (The Message)

Genesis 7:5
Noah did everything God commanded him. (The Message)

It's difficult to imagine the fullness of Noah's obedience-- God has never asked me to build a giant ship and fill it with animals because He's going to destroy the earth. Maybe God hasn't spoken this exactly to me or you, but I bet He has asked you to build something-- something huge. Something incredible. Something so tremendous and ridiculous with your life that it terrifies you if you think about it too long.

The philosopher Dallas Willard talks about the concept of familiarity breeding unfamiliarity and I think this is one of those stories-- we know it so well, that the complexity, detail, and power of this story is actually quite unfamiliar to us.

One thing that is very clear however, is the result of Noah's obedience to God:

Genesis 9:1,3,7
God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. You're here to bear fruit, reproduce, lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!" (The Message)

More extreme obedience
Another example of extreme obedience comes through Abraham and his son, Isaac. Again, we are very familiar with this story, but put yourself in this situation, especially if you have children, and see where it takes you in your mind. God says to Abraham,

Genesis 22:2
"Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you." (The Message)

Yeah, you thought the ark was bad! What is that conversation between Abraham and God like?

"God, you want me to kill my own kid?? What??? I waited 100 years for him and now you're taking him away???" I can't imagine that any of us would respond to this level of request with honorable, obedience and respect. I think for most of us, it would actually draw-out of us a level of disobedience that we maybe never even knew was inside us.

And yet, Abraham is 100% obedient and again, God is faithful and consistent in His response to obedience:

Genesis 22:15-18
The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: "I swear—God's sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I'll bless you—oh, how I'll bless you! And I'll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me." (The Message)

Hearing from God
Andy Stanley talks about an interesting concept when it comes to hearing from God: he says that God is not interested in revealing Himself to you when you are merely wanting advice-- another option to put in your basket of consideration. He says that God is actually looking for a heart-position that says, "God, your way is the only way. Your way is the best way. I'm ready to be completely obedient to whatever you say, whatever it takes."

That is when you actually open yourself--your spirit, your heart, your eyes, your ears--to be able to truly tune-in to what God is saying, and the openness that it takes to let the full blessing (that God has made so clear in His Word) flow through your life.

My dog Chigui
A friend of mine spoke to me a couple weeks ago about an interesting thought on obedience and it made me think about my old dog that I had growing up. His name was Chigui (chee-gee). No, it doesn't mean anything-- just a 10-year-old's blabbering that became a name.

Anyway, Chigui was a wonderful dog. He was sweet and fun and loyal. But, he had a strong spirit of adventure-- which is a nice way of saying, if you didn't watch him, he would run off and explore the neighborhood into the wee hours of the night. Even when we would call him sometimes, he would still choose to take-off and do his own thing. Of course, when he finally returned, he was back on the leash in a heartbeat.

Do we think like this sometimes? Do we hear God's voice, asking us to do one thing, but then we choose something else that looks and feels like freedom instead? See, what Chigui didn't understand was that his few moments of "freedom" weren't actually free at all-- he was actually creating less freedom for himself through disobedience.

I think that we are the exact same way, sometimes! We foolishly think that these small acts of disobedience we choose are freeing and liberating, when they actually set us up for a smaller life with less freedom. It's those obedient dogs, who come when you call them, who do what you ask them to do, that you actually extend more freedom, more trust, more responsibility to, right?

I believe that harnessing this concept-- that obeying God's voice and not choosing the emotional and easy option, actually creates more freedom and blessing and opportunity-- is CENTRAL to living the amazing life God has planned for us.

Is God asking you to build something huge and ridiculous and risky?

Or maybe God is asking you to sacrifice something unthinkable-- a close relationship, a habit you've had for years, etc.

Either way, He has made clear the result of obedience to Him. So this week, let's really listen to what God is speaking to us-- then actually DO it!

Kudos to all of you joining me in reading through your bibles this 99 days-- keep sending emails and leaving comments on what God is speaking to you this summer! Disciplining yourself for this much reading is definitely not easy, but keep at it-- you can do it and the reward on the other side is HUGE!!

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