GOD'S WILL: "OBEY!"

 

         By A. W. Tozer

 

        If ye will not obey . . . then shall the hand of

         the Lord be against you.      1Samuel 12: .18

 

             Independence is a strong human trait, so men and

         women everywhere bristle when anyone says, "You

         owe obedience!" In the natural sense, we do not take

         kindly to the prospect of yielding obedience to anyone.

 

            Both Old and New Testaments of the Bible make it

         plain that sin is disobedience to the Law of God.  Paul's

         picture of sinners in Ephesians concludes that the wrath

         of God will come upon those who are "the children of

         disobedience."

 

             So, we live in a generation of men and women alienated

         from God, and who make a great case for individualism

         and "the right of self-determination."  The individual's

         strong statement is this: "I belong to myself.  No one has

         the authority to require my obedience!"

 

             Now, if God had made us to be mere machines, we would

         not have the power of self-determination.  He made us in

        His image, to be moral creatures with the power, but not

         the right, to choose evil. We have the right to be good.

 

         We never have the right to be bad because God, the Creator,

         is good.  If we choose to be unholy, we are using a right that

        is not ours!

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         Yours in Christ,

         Paul N. F.