Maturity through obedience

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death
even death on a cross! Philippians 2: 5 – 8

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. John 15: 10

I have been very challenged recently by the obedience of Jesus even to death on a cross. Jesus knew that the only way that sinful men, whom he loved so much, could be saved from sin and death was by his death at the hands of those very same sinful men.  It was sheer obedience to the Father that took him to and through the death on the cross.  Jesus had in mind the bigger picture, the salvation of the world, rather than his own personal comfort or desires.

This thought though can be rather overwhelming for those of us struggling with obedience on a much smaller scale. Jesus has set such a high standard that we feel we cannot get anywhere near so there can be a tendency to not even try especially when God seems to be asking us to do something that we find quite hard.
The first thing to remember though is that God knows how hard we find it and is only asking for our obedience because he knows we can do it, with his help. The second thing to remember is that there is always a greater good either for us or someone else or for both. God is not asking us to do something so we can fail but so we can succeed, even if it takes more than one attempt or even several attempts.

God is calling us up to higher things, to a Christ like nature, to maturity and that means obediently walking through some things we may find difficult. Most of us want a life where the flesh does not have to be constantly crucified but that is not the Christian walk. That walk is the one of denying ourselves daily.  Some go too far and are harsh on the body but Paul makes clear in Colossians 2: 23 that this has little value and some just like to indulge themselves. Neither is right.

Our path is one of obedience and some days and times that may be easy and at others very challenging; getting up early to go to the prayer meeting, fasting rather than eating that rather nice food in the fridge, going and talking to a stranger rather than our friends, making a stand against unrighteousness at work and so on. However God is spurring us on to something that will do us good, that will help us know him better and live the life he has planned for us. A self indulged child only thinks about themselves; a child brought up to consider others even when it is inconvenient is a joy to be around.

I am learning a hard truth that I do not need to look after me, to make sure I get what I need and even want. God will look after me and he will do a better job than I will even if it doesn’t always feel like it. Let us be encouraged to persevere in our training in righteousness and to press on to maturity through obedience.