Tag Archives: obedience

May 8
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“Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!’” (2 Kings 5:13, NIV)

The disciple of Jesus does well to guard against the popular temptation to be “heroic,” as in aspiring only to do something “big” for God.  God is not impressed with heroism; but God is impressed with obedience — including obedience in the smallest things.

Naaman (a hero in his own right as a warrior and as the commander of the king’s army), was ready to do the big thing for God. However, he became angry when he was asked to do a menial task toward the same result. 

Remember, it pleased God to deploy a youthful novice with a slingshot against Goliath’s sword and the shield; it pleased God to use a little boy’s lunch of fish and bread in the satisfaction of the multitude’s hunger; it pleased God to rely on the simple testimony of common women and men to announce the resurrection of Jesus. 

Be ready, always, to do the “small” thing in obedience to God.  – Luther

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May 6
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“The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’ So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:38-39, NIV)

“You can’t go home again,” is the title of a famous book written by Thomas Wolfe (1940).  Returning home is not always a pleasant option. It certainly was not a cheerful thought for the man in today’s scripture, for whom Jesus had liberated from the tyranny of demon-possession.

Perhaps he feared the taunts of those who remembered him in his former state. Perhaps he thought that his new life warranted a fresh start in a new place.  Perhaps he thought that he could do more for the reputation of Jesus as a part of the Master’s entourage than he could by returning to the skeptical folks at home. 

However, Jesus had other ideas.  “Return home and tell how much God has done for you,” Jesus told the man. He is telling you and me the same thing today. 

Our task is a simple one: Tell what God has done for you. 

Be bold. Give God the glory. No one can tell your story better than you. Be faithful in this simple task.  – Luther

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May 5
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“Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) (I Kings 18:2b – 4, NIV)

Obadiah, like many of us, was at or near the pinnacle of his working life.  Yet, his position as the king’s “chief of staff” was not the primary force of Obadiah’s life: He was also “a devout believer in the Lord.”

Because of that commitment, Obadiah did what was morally right — even though it was contrary to the law of the land, and he would have paid with his life had his support of the prophets of the Lord been discovered.

May we each be like Obadiah: Not married to our privileges, power, prestige, and position, but first and always committed to — and trusting in — the Lord. If we become stewards of the rich benefits of our years of work and sacrifice, it is only for the benefit of others and for the glory of God.  – Luther

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