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Posts Tagged ‘obey’

A Promise, a Vow, or a Pledge

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

promiseWhich is it? When we say we will do something, when we agree, when we say yes, is there power in it? Three months after their exodus from Egypt, they arrived at Mt. Sinai and before any commandments were given, before any rules were laid down, God said this:

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. . . . [and they answered] “We will do everything the Lord has said.” [Exodus 19:5-6a, 8b, NIV]

It’s a similar response that a bride and groom make to one another. Sometimes the answer is “I do” and sometimes the answer is “I will,” but in both cases, they are responses to a question that might be something like this, “will you have ‘so and so’ to be your wedded husband/wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony; will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor and keep him/her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only for him/her so long as you both shall live?”

And God  basically asked the same of the Israelites. Will you obey me fully and they said we will.

But they did not. They thought they could. They thought they would. But they did not. And for this reason, for this “fail,” the history of these people was changed forever, yet again. And Jesus asked for no less, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:37-40, NIV]

And did we? We did not. We do not.

It’s not rocket science, this living within the parameters of God’s plan: love, obey, trust, believe. And why don’t we? I can say we are still like Eve and Adam. We want more than what God offers. We believe we know better. We believe we might miss something if we agree to this small world. I see myself kicking against the limitations I perceive God has made against me, not seeing that following with abandon, in trust, opens the world to me. I must let go to have. I must give to receive. The paradox continues.

Today, God is still asking me, will trust God to be God in my life?

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Obey the Truth & Love Deeply

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Not all of the translations include the phrase “through the Holy Spirit” when it comes to obeying the truth, but I see that as an essential piece. Otherwise, it’s a lost game. Obedience needs the grounding and grace of Spirit; so does love for that matter.

I Peter 1:22
Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently [deeply] from a pure heart. [Amplified]

So what is the “Truth” here. Some commentaries simply say it’s the gospel: to obey the gospel? I think I can believe in the gospel, but I don’t believe that obey would be the same thing here. Alternatively, of course, there is obedience of the Christ, also called in the Truth (by Jesus himself) in John 14:6 (as in “I am the way, the truth & the light . . . ).

In the Old Testament, the truth of God is more often rendered as faithfulness. It is a form of truth, this dependability in what God says and what God will do or promises to do: whether it’s destroy, repair, or restore.

We do know the opposite of truth is falsehood. And no good thing comes from falsehood, no good thing comes from a lie, no obedience to a deception will produce good fruit. So, even if we don’t know exactly what “truth” is, evidence eventually piles up.

But let me turn to the One who helps us obey the Truth (whatever truth might be), and that is the Holy Spirit, my favorite topic of late, my hope in the midst of all challenges, my resource, my guide, my closest ally. “When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start.” [John 15:26-27, The Message]

In the same way that asking for wisdom on regular, daily basis is effective and necessary (like manna from heaven), I’m thinking that asking the Holy Spirit for help to “obey Truth” is a reasonable and maybe insightful addition to my prayer routine.

I’ve never been too good at the obedience code anyway. There’s a little rebel in me I guess. And although that has held me in good stead on occasion, giving me a foot up when it comes to thinking outside the box or creatively, it also lands me in a little hot water, pushing back against authority, etc.

Now, as to loving deeply, this too requires Holy Spirit participation, only because deep love, coupled with a pure heart, can only have one Source. I cannot love deeply or purely on my own. And of course, deep love is honest . . . it’s rooted in Truth. They are woven together.

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