Third Word: Obedience

We have talked about how important openness and prayer are to finding the depth of the kingdom of God. Now we come to our third word: obedience.

No one of us learns everything about the kingdom life before we begin it. We get a good glimpse of it even as we get a clear summons to it from Jesus; but after we answer the call, there is much to learn.

We certainly learn by praying for openness and for greater insights. But we also learn by obeying. When we obey Jesus’ kingdom teaching, we demonstrate the new life, but we also take a step that opens up to greater obedience.

Like a budding basketball player must first learn to dribble before he can learn to execute a fake, and other skillful maneuvers, we must obey in small and basic ways before we will have the eyes to even see the larger ways.

Kierkegaard described people who go down to the beach, watch people swim, take careful notes and do scientific calculations on what they observe.
But such people, he said, do not know what swimming is. They will only know what swimming is if they plunge in, committing their bodies to the water.

Obedience is plunging in. For example, it is plunging into loving one’s enemies. At first we may be awkward and do lots of things wrong. But as we seek to obey the kingdom call, we will grow and see more clearly the reason for the call, the depth of the call and even more ways to demonstrate that call.

Decide this: as soon as I hear Jesus’ words, I will plunge in and obey them.

Focus Scriptures
John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
John 15:9-11
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.