Obedience Without Delay
ICS Daily Devotions
Matthew 8:21-23 (NKJV) Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
The Lordship of Christ is a simple truth, but it requires a lifetime of obedience to fully live it out. After accepting Christ, our entire lives are transformed as we realign our values and priorities. We should aspire to live a consecrated life. However, unless we genuinely regard ourselves as dead in Christ, there will always be a struggle between what we desire and what God calls us to do; thus, we tend to be selective about what we choose to obey. Nevertheless, it is possible to live a fully surrendered life to the Lord.
The consecrated life is a walk of obedience, involving dying to our selfish desires, wants, and wishes, and subjecting ourselves to what God has in mind for us. It involves holiness and godliness. Another aspect is learning to submit to His plan, calling, and the timing for certain things in our lives. God is at liberty to ask us to do something for Him if we profess to have believed in Him and to live for Him, and the Holy Spirit will prompt or nudge us to preach the gospel, perform a good deed, or intercede for a person or situation.
The opening passage discusses the call, relationships, timing, and cost of following Jesus. It may seem heartless and lacking empathy, but God desires absolute obedience when it comes to following Him as a disciple and answering a full-time call. This disciple wanted to follow Jesus but felt he had something important to do. Jesus didn’t allow him to carry out the funeral rituals for his father because He knew the disciple might not return afterwards. People tend to rationalise and justify away God’s call, especially since Jesus mentioned that He had no permanent place to call home. For example, we may rationalise about children’s education, loss of income, and our identity. Some of us want our own timing for the call, preferring to give God the remainder of our lives after pursuing our own plans. However, God desires the prime time of our lives and deserves our best. God wants us to place Him above our family relationships, and He urges us to trust Him for all our provisions. The question is whether we are obedient to His timing, His provision, and the priorities He sets for us.
There is a cost for discipleship or a full-time call. Jesus wants us to have absolute reliance on Him, including our living allowance, our future, and all our needs. That is faith, which pleases Him. What Jesus wants from us is to put down everything and follow Him when He calls. That is obedience!
Sermon Series: Giving out of a heart of gratitude
