GOD'S WILL: "OBEY!"

 

    By A. W. Tozer

 

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

    the Lord be against you.        1 Samuel 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.