obedience from the heart

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:17-18

Everyone is a slave to something. Everyone has a master. This is a slavery that rises up from our deepest desires. We want and so we serve until we are enslaved. And although such a truth is unpopular in our culture, the actual condition is, slavery is the natural born state of every person on the planet. In gospel terms, we are either the slave of sin by birth, bound to do wrong with sin mastering us, or we are slaves of righteousness with Jesus as our new Master. Everyone is a slave.

This truth is visible every day. In fact, even for those of us who by grace have believed the gospel, remnants of sin’s shackles still show us just how real sin’s slavery is. We see it all around us. This world is a miserable plantation under the ownership of a sinful system of ungodly taskmasters who gleefully dominate people under sin, controlled by Satan’s cruel hatred for all the good that God has done.

What do slaves do? Paul is very simple yet profound: slaves obey their masters. And we will either obey sin or obey righteousness. But from the heart, the slaves of righteousness have a new way to obey. We have the teaching of the gospel and the example/call of Jesus that is modeled for us to follow. We are committed to that standard. A slave can choose to obey by outward conformance only, but that is not how we are slaves to righteousness. We willingly obey from a transformed heart. We are set free from sin’s absolute control of our hearts, and now we are willing slaves to a good and loving Master… Jesus Christ the Righteous! Serving with obedience to the gospel from our hearts, we find joy in the tasks that Jesus gives us… His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It is a joy to be Christ’s slaves. It is what we were made for!

tear them down

Because they do not regard the works of the LORD

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and build them up no more.

Psalm 28:5

There is an end coming for those who mock God, disregard the work of God, and refuse to bow to Him. And this psalm, in worship, acknowledges the power of God over wicked people who reject Him. God will tear them down and see that they are never built up again. It is a truth that keeps our perspective in proper place.

Why do we fret over evildoers? Why do we act as if there is never going to be justice? Why do Christians get so worked up over social issues, political actions, and place stock in flawed, sinful leaders? It’s one thing to have a desire to shine the light of God’s holiness and truth. It is quite another to focus solely on the prosperity of the wicked and pour our energies into using the world’s means for flawed “solutions” that ultimately fail. We need this high view of God’s justice and judgment illuminating our view of the world as we live in human created institutions. David reminds us in this psalm that there is no way that wickedness wins! God will tear them down. God will not let them rebuild. God is in control. Will we trust that He’s got it all under His plan and power?

I’m convinced Johnny Cash is a better theologian in this matter with these thoughts:

You can run on for a long time

run on for a long time

run on for a long time

sooner or later God’ll cut you down

sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar

God tell that midnight rider

tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter

tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

mustard seed kingdom

…yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

Mark 4:32

One small seed planted in the garden

became a sprout, then a

seedling, then matured and grew.

Don’t underestimate what one small seed will do.

Mustard seeds surprise you!

One gospel conversation planted in a soul

may germinate in the heart, take

root, and then with faith will grow.

Don’t think the gospel is too slow.

It will spread wide before you know.

One new Christian placed in the position

where Jesus can shine bright

will be used in God’s situation.

Don’t think it a weird aberration

that one person could sway a nation.

A David or a Daniel or a Paul

can be planted by God’s hand

carefully watered, nurtured in God’s field.

Don’t give up on what God has healed…

A massive kingdom will be the yield!

the extent of His voice

The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

Psalm 29:8

Over half of this psalm is caught up in the power and majesty of the voice of the Lord as reflected by God’s power over the natural and the political world. It can be charted like this:

So looking at the poetry, what point is being made? It extols the powerful, impressive, and fearful voice of God and ends in worship. People cry out “Glory!” in God’s temple (which did not yet exist when David wrote this psalm). It is somewhat prophetic, perhaps a glimpse into eternity in God’s new temple. Every image is about three things: 1) The exclusivity of the voice of the Lord. When God speaks it is a unique experience attributed only to Him. 2) The power of the voice of the Lord. It is both destructive and, depending upon how the Hebrew reads in verse 9 (ie “deer gives birth”) creative in expression. 3) The rule of the voice of the Lord is global: It extends from Lebanon (north) to Kadesh (south) and embraces all people, coming from God enthroned as King over all forever (Psalm 29:10).

Lord,

You are in control. Your voice rules the world, still echoing across the universe You created as You thunder over wilderness, shake the forests and the cities, send the floods, and yet keep Your creation in Your care. May Your mighty power continue to be made known now in the voice of Your saving love AND Your impending justice is here now in the voice of Jesus for Your glory, O King!

Amen

father of faith

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:3

F aithful

A braham

I nitiated

T his

H ope.

A braham

S urrendered.

R everently

I nvesting in

G od’s

H eartfelt

T ouch,

E ventually

O wning

S pecial

N omadic

E xperiences,

S hunning

S hame.

H earkening to

E xplanations

B rushing

E very

L ie

I nto

E ventual

V alidation of

E ach

D ay,

G rabbing

O nto

D reams.

Leadership matters.

And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD.

Numbers 14:36-37

Leaders are important and God holds them responsible because leadership exerts influence upon the moral outcomes of many. And that influence can be used to lead people to honor God. It can also very clearly lead people to disobey God. Leaders are held accountable by God precisely for this reason. And leaders can influence people, can lead people, to sin. 

Ten of the twelve spies who were sent to bring back a report on Canaan were men with sinful influence. They were driven by selfishness, fear, power, and peer pressure to reject God’s will and to recommend that Israel do the same. Their report was a sinful rejection of God’s promise. They led Israel, by their recommendation, into a fearful, faithless frenzy of rejection of God’s will. In short: their leadership led the nation to sin against God. The text could be no more clear: they “made all the congregation grumble against” God. This is God’s verdict. The spies led others to sin against God.

The consequence for Israel was intense. The bad advice of the spies was magnified a million-fold by people who had never even seen the land. Israel had already struggled to trust God in the wilderness. The leadership of these ten led the nation to set their complaints in concrete. The bad counsel confirmed a consistent choice and tendency Israel already struggled with so that the nation rejected God. Their influence on Israel became a massive rebellion. Leaders can tip the scales toward awful sin and bring about God’s consequential judgment.

The consequences God brought upon those ten bad leaders were severe. Their judgment was swift. They all died of a divinely directed plague while Joshua and Caleb lived on. They were the first to die in the wilderness for their unbelief because of their bad influence. And as a faithless generation whom they made to sin fell dead one by one over forty years, the reverberating consequence of bad leadership that led others into sin stretched on for four entire decades. So does leadership matter? You bet it does!

Never think leaders and their influence are amoral. Leadership is vital! God judges those who lead precisely because leaders can influence people both for good and for evil.

Follow Me

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

Mark 2:14

A simple invitation

with profound implication

“Follow Me”, the Rabbi bade

and another disciple made

his way behind his teacher

listening, obeying the preacher

Leaving empty seat behind him

with many footsteps ahead of him

the disciple pays attention

to the Master’s new direction

Jesus leading the way

in another growing day

The journey began with two words

that set a new command now heard

and a new path to walk

with a new way to talk

forward facing future

friendship building nurture

The Friend of Sinners calls us

to earnestly follow Jesus

Will people still listen and obey?

Will disciples give up and take His Way?

His teaching we must ponder

in His footsteps we must wander

“Follow Me” is what I heard

when I surrendered to my Lord

new journey ever before me

His hand writing my new story

I rise up, with purpose and speed

my Master’s words are all I need