“Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding to learn your commands.”
“My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.”
“If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.” (Psalms 119:73,81,92 NIV)
It is God’s plan and purpose for our lives that we should believe in Him, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and that believing we should forsake our former ways of living for sin and for self, be born anew of the Spirit of God, and be given new lives of the Spirit to be lived in the power and working of the Spirit of God within us. This is his salvation, his grace, and the only true freedom we will ever know. For it is by God’s grace, through faith, that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 6-8; Ephesians 4:17-24).
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we submit to his Lordship over our lives, we surrender our all to him, we repent of our sins, and we allow the Holy Spirit to work his will and his grace in our lives to change us and to conform us to the image of Christ. We don’t become puppets on a string. We don’t lose our free will. Daily we must submit to the cross and surrender our lives to Christ, forsaking our sins and drawing near to God. In other words, we must cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives. This is true faith.
Some people think that “faith” or “believing” in Jesus Christ as Savior of their lives is some mystical thing that takes place via God’s grace to them, but that nothing is required of them at all other than to “believe.” Scripture does not support that notion. Scripture teaches us that when Jesus died for our sins it was not merely to free us from eternal punishment in hell and to give us the hope of eternal life with God in glory. He died for us so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life for us (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23).
And God’s grace teaches us to renounce (say “No” to) ungodliness and worldly passions (lusts) and to live self-controlled, godly and upright lives in this present age while we wait for his return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (See Tit. 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 8:1-14).
“I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.” (Psalms 119:101-104 NIV)
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is a whole lot like a marriage. In fact, scripture often compares our relationship with Jesus Christ to the relationship between a bride and her groom. So we would all do well to keep this imagery set in our minds and in our hearts. For what bride and groom “tie the knot” and then go their separate ways? I suspect the majority do not, not immediately anyway, though many do later, sadly so.
When we marry someone, it is usually because we want to be with that person for the rest of our lives, at least that is customary here in America where we generally choose our own marital partners, i.e. they are not normally chosen for us. We marry because we want to be in a relationship with someone – to grow together, share common experiences, fellowship with each other, tell one another our joys and heartaches, work together, laugh together, play together, and hopefully worship God together.
But, in order for us to do this, we have to spend lots of time together, being intimate with each other, talking, working, planning, and hopefully serving alongside each other in ministry, and volunteering together, etc. Sadly, it doesn’t always work out that way, but that is the ideal, and that should be the model for our marriage to Christ, that we desire intimacy with him and time spent with him in doing the things that he would like for us to do.
For the same principle applies here to our relationships with Jesus Christ. We can’t give God five minutes a day reading a devotion and then do what we want to do the rest of the time. Our lives should be the Lord’s 24/7, and he should be the master of our lives. We should be available to him and in communion with him all the time, in order for him to speak with us, and for us to talk with him, and for us to listen to and to obey what he shows us.
And prayer is not just something we schedule time for. Since the Spirit of God lives within us, and we are always in his presence, we should talk with him and let him talk with us throughout the day. We should regularly make it a practice of inquiring of him before we make critical decisions, and even some small decisions, too. And, we should have his words in our hearts and in our minds so that we can meditate on them throughout the day and into the night. But obedience to him is what must follow it all.
Trust and Obey
Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
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