obedience Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Daily Thoughts about God

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33

What do we owe Jesus? “Everything,” you might say. But does that cover the cost of salvation? Absolutely not! Then how can we ever have it?

Moved by grace, God doesn’t require us to come up with the full payment. Not even close. The price of salvation – Jesus’ righteous life lived on our behalf and His dying in our place – is of infinite value. One we can never pay on our own.

Compared to what Jesus paid, we’ve all been offered salvation at an astronomical discount. The discount, however, consist of everything we have, all that we are, and everything we hope to be!

Still, that is but a penny against our mountain of debt. But as with the destitute widow in the temple, when we give all that we have with humility and sincerity, it becomes a sufficient token of faith that moves God to grant us all the riches of salvation in Christ.

Does Jesus expect repayment, as if each week we manage not to mess up royally is an installment against what we owe Him? No! Christianity is not a debt collection program. In fact, we will never stop being indebted to Jesus.

As John Piper puts it, “You shouldn’t think of obedience as a mortgage payment, trying to pay God back month by month until you get the debt paid off. Rather, we should think that obedience is going deeper in debt to God every moment, because it takes more grace to be obedient this afternoon than I had yesterday.”

The redeemed serve and obey Jesus out of thankfulness for all that He has done for us. We follow Jesus today out of anticipation for all the good gifts He plans to work in and through us the rest of our lives.

Jesus, thank you for accepting the small token of my whole life as an act of faith in you. Thank you for living the perfect life I could never live and for dying the death I deserve. I trust and obey you today, confident in the beautiful and good things you have in store for me. Amen.

By M Jantzen

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“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
Philippians 2:8-9

The reason why Jesus came into the world was to die on the cross for the sins of humanity. But it was far from easy: on His last night on earth, Jesus cried out to God three times, asking Him for another way. But God didn’t provide one. So, Jesus humbled Himself to God’s will. And His obedience led Him die one of the worst deaths imaginable.

What is God calling you to do that you are finding hard to obey? Are you sensing, deep within you, that God is speaking to you about something you’re meant to do? Maybe He’s calling you to take a risk, and you’re having a hard time letting go of your comfort zone. If so, I want to encourage you to humble yourself, obey, and step out in faith just like Jesus did. The reward for you will be great, as it was for Jesus. An obedient lifestyle may not be easy, but it is possible.

We may not understand how the entire process is going to work out, but we need to trust God, because He is worthy of our trust! He is good and His plans for us are good. It just makes sense for us to be obedient to Him and to His call.

Father, give us the grace to be obedient to what You are calling us to. May we have the courage to step out in faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.

By Folasade Oladapo

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Jesus is not a Debt Collector

Called to Obedience

Tag: <span>obedience</span>

Jesus is not a Debt Collector

Called to Obedience