Simple, NOT Easy:
This morning I told my daughters that they needed to have all their chores done. Like most people, they have a proclivity for the path of least resistance. I made sure that there was no uncertainty regarding the instructions or consequences. Regardless, the oldest chose to be lazy and stayed in bed. After being called out on the glaringly obvious she then upped the ante and decided to lie, haggle, avoid, ignore, plea bargain, and implode. The one thing she never did was obey.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “everywhere it is the same – the deliberate avoidance of simple, literal obedience.”
A pastor friend of mine once said, “When I’m counseling people I always hear them say, ‘I know the Bible says (fill-in-the-blank), but…’”
Bonhoeffer and my friend are making the same point: Everyone always has an excuse regarding why their personal flavor of disobedience is justified, warranted, permissible, or excusable.
When I told a young married man that he needed to give his wife access to all his email accounts, his Facebook page, his cell phone, etc., he began to to tell me why that wouldn’t work…
When I told another young Christian man with two ex’s that he needed to stop chasing women and love affairs and “seek first the kingdom of God…” he looked at me like I was a religious lunatic. Then he said to me, “Kevin, you need to be practical.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “everywhere it is the same – the deliberate avoidance of simple, literal obedience.”
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul wrote, “...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Practice that today. Take captive every thought. Why am I texting this person and not my spouse? Why am I going to the break room when I know that person will be there? Why am I parking my car here? Why am I staying late at the office and not working from home? Why did I agree to meet with this person?
Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
The exclusive alternative is the deliberate avoidance of simple, literal obedience.
Since you know the Bible has already spoken on that matter, why ignore, justify, or linger?
Our counseling schedules are filled with people who thought, and continue to think, “just this once” it’ll be okay. It’s not. You’re making a willful choice to believe lies, wreck lives, and invite the enemy in so that he can steal, kill, and destroy.
If you’re not seeking Him first in all things (school, career, relationships, finances, health, recreation, relaxation, education…) then you have an idol in your life.
Spend some time today actively monitoring the thoughts which run through your head. Seize them. Analyze them. Find the root motivation. Extrapolate the inevitable outcomes. Make them simply obedient to Christ.
Blessings,
-Kevin M. Kelley
aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com
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