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.