In the famous words of the great philosopher Yoda “Do or do not, there is no try”. It is a phrase that has be running through my head this month. Why, you might ask. Well, I have fallen a little behind in my Bible reading. And by a little I mean 20 days.
Skipping the habit is so justifiable. I had a busy day, or I’m not feeling well, or the kids are going crazy. Everyday there seems to be a good enough excuse not to spend 15 minutes in God’s Word. One day turns into two. Two days turn into a week. A week turns into three. Then you find yourself 20 days behind with an article to write.
Faithfulness to God and obedience to his leading are major themes in the past few books, 1 Samuel in particular. Saul was successful as a king when he was obedient to God’s leading. When he began to go his own way and let pride steer the course, his rule and his life fell apart. David’s story follows the same path. He spends much of 1 Samuel in lock-step with the Lord. There are many times in young David’s life where he would have been completely justified to do his own thing, yet he chose to follow God’s leading. God blessed his faithfulness time and time again.
The topic of obedience is one that I have struggled with this past month. Obviously, I have failed to read the Bible day after day which can easily be described as disobedience. Now don’t get me wrong, none of us can be truly perfect at following the Lord. Its not possible. We are fallen creatures who make mistakes. However, there is a big difference to having a spirit of obedience and having a spirit of trying to be obedient. It all comes down to honesty.
Let’s take my Bible reading for example. I allowed the excuses to win. My spirit was not one of faithful obedience but one of weaknesses searching for the easy path and comfort. I chose to read the news and look up memes instead of studying the Word. I can say that I tried to be obedient, but if I’m being honest, I’ll I’m trying to do is justify my disobedience. I ignored the still small voice that encouraged me to read at least a little of the Word. I shut down my brain with mindless entertainment. Drowning the Holy Spirit out with mind-numbing Netflix.
The irony
The irony is this, if I was honest with God about my struggles with the sin of laziness then in reality, I would be fostering a spirit of obedience. If I humbled myself and repented of sin then I would be doing exactly what God has called us to do. And that is the crux of the matter.
The behaviour, such as reading the Bible, in not itself obedience. People can easily pick up the Bible everyday and go to church every Sunday, and still not have a spirit of obedience. They have a spirit of legalism. God’s first priority isn’t our actions, but our heart. He wants us to want to be obedient to him. Not so that we can tick something off our list or because we think it’ll get us through the Pearly Gates, he wants us to obey because we love him. Obedience flows from our heart.
My behaviour should be an outworking of my relationship with God. By missing my Bible reading for a few weeks in a row I need to be honest with God about what is going on in my heart, not beat myself up and foster guilt and shame which establishes more of an obstacle to obeying Christ. I need to change the why of my obedience from ticking a box to loving him. It all comes down to a right relationship with God.
Obedience starts in the heart, not in the hands.