Day 234
Colossians 3:24
"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."
Christians are so used to human authority that they often forget about divine authority. It is obvious to the average child that he must obey his parents. The ordinary worker understands he must follow the instructions of his boss. Most women know they have to answer to their husbands about the majority of decisions they make. Good citizens realize that they should obey the laws of the government. People do not usually challenge a police officer when he gives orders. Colossians 3:24 tells us that we serve the Lord Christ. In other words, we should consider ourselves subject to Him and His commands to us.
It would be wonderful if God got at least as much cooperation from His church as the earthly leaders get from humans in general. However, because we do not see God, we have a tendency to think we can do what He says at our convenience, if at all. He seems far away, and we do not run into Him on a regular basis, like we do our earthly superiors. Our awareness of Him is not as strong until we grow so close to Him that we sense His presence continually. Until we get to the place spiritually where we are constantly aware of the Lord's presence, we need to discipline ourselves to act like we serve Him. Disciplined obedience, when practiced out of sincere reverence toward God, will actually help us get close to Him. As we continue to draw close to Him, He will become so real that we will feel just as obligated to follow His instructions as we would the officer who is standing in front of us directing traffic.
Let us apologize to God for taking Him lightly when He told us to go to church, to call a brother or sister, to give a certain amount of money to someone or some ministry, to write a letter to a friend or to visit a shut-in. May we begin to take our Lord and Master more seriously. His authority should mean more to us than the authority of any man.
I am sorry for my lack of cooperation with God. I am willing to obey Him strictly. With His help, I will do better.