Set Your Mind Above

S2 E32 - No Substitute For Obedience

April 07, 2022 Season 2 Episode 32
Set Your Mind Above
S2 E32 - No Substitute For Obedience
Show Notes Transcript

Today as I was getting the dishes unloaded and loaded, I asked the kids to leave the kitchen. Dane left, but Ava lingered and told me "just a minute". I said now, and she proceeded to return with a "gift" for me - and that is why she couldn't leave yet. It was a great teaching moment to show her if she wants to make me happy, she needs to do what I ask the first time, not what she thinks I might want. Well...we need to learn the same lesson with the Lord. God is not interested in us doing what we think might please him, he is interested in us simply doing what he says. Even the best of intentions are no substitute, to obey is better than a gift of our own creation. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together. 

Well, one more day in the books for a quarantine Sipe house. Actually, Kylie was fever free for the first time all day today, which is wonderful news! If she stays that way through the night, that means tomorrow she can come out of her lair and back into the world with the rest of us. We’re just so glad it looks like her fever has finally broke, and aside from being exhausted, is on the upswing from this flu bug that bit her. That left just me with the kids one last time today, so that means of course that today’s podcast will be inspired by something that happened with them. But hey, you’ve got to cut me some slack, when you’re stuck at home doing nothing you really don’t have a whole lot to work with. As it turns out, the kids gave me plenty of material today though. So before we start, I need to give you some background on my daughter and her top love language. If you’ve not read the “5 love languages” from Gray Chapman, I would highly recommend it. He narrows down the ways that individuals show & receive love into five categories: physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, and gift giving. Most people score in all of these, but usually score higher in 1 or 2 primarily over the others. Well, my daughter is a gift giver through and through. Whenever someone is sick, sad, or hurting, she wants to bring them one of her toys or draw them a picture. Also, it’s like every time she has been given a gift, it has become a core memory. I can pick up any toy, article of clothing, or book and ask her “who gave this to you?” and she will get it right every single time. It’s kind of amazing, actually. This is important to know about her before I detail and event from today. I was in the kitchen unloading and then loading again the dishwasher as the kids were running through the house playing. I don’t like them running through the kitchen when the dishwasher is open because they could trip and fall, potentially landing on a fork or knife, so I said, “Alright, everybody out of the kitchen. Daddy is doing the dishes.” Dane quickly scurried out of the kitchen, but Ava ran the other direction towards the pantry. “Ava, I said out of the kitchen please.” “Just a minute, dad.” she responded. “No, now sweetie.” I said back. Ava then emerged from the pantry with a breakfast bar that I frequently enjoy and says, “Dad, I was getting this for you, that’s why I couldn’t go yet!” I smiled, because I saw that this was about to be a wonderful teaching moment. She had the best of intentions, and in her mind she was doing something to show me that she loves me. I bent down and called her over. “Honey, I appreciate that you wanted to do something for me. I love how you love your daddy. But if you really want to do something for me, and you really want to make daddy happy, then you need to do what I ask you to do the first time. It’s more important for you to obey than to keep doing whatever it is you were doing. Does that make sense?” “Yes daddy,” she said softly as she wrapped her arms around my neck. It was a precious moment, and I was grateful to have that opportunity to introduce a very important lesson to her. I know that she loves me, but something she will continue to learn is how she needs to do what I have asked her to do, not what she thinks I want her to do. 

Actually, that is a lesson that a lot of us need to learn. Not necessarily the way that we show our love for others, but the way that we show our love for God. How many times have you heard someone say the following, “Well God didn’t say not to…fill in the blank”? You see that’s the thing about doing what is pleasing to God – we don’t have to guess! God has already told us what he wants us to do, and all he wants us to do is obey. God is not interested in us doing for him what we think he wants us to do, he is interested in us doing for him what he has asked of us already. Consider the following dialogue between Saul, the king of Jerusalem, and Samuel, the prophet of God. 1 Samuel 15:16-23, ““Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” he replied. Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, haven’t you become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel and then sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?” “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered. “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back King Agag of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. The troops took sheep, goats, and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” God had given Saul clear instructions, to destroy the Amalekites completely, who were a violent, wicked, awful nation. And yet, Saul did not do this. He pounced on the spoil and claimed that he was going to take the best of it and offer it as a gift to God. I am not so sure that Saul was as well intentioned as my daughter was with this gesture, and the context seems to confirm that. But even if he was, consider the words of the prophet Samuel again – to obey is better than sacrifice. God was not pleased with what Saul had done because Saul did for the Lord what he himself wanted, not what God had actually asked of him. The same lesson that was given to the king is the same lesson that we ourselves must remember. Good intentions are no substitute for obedience. Jesus asked this question during his ministry, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”  (Luke 6:46-49) Here is the point that Jesus is clearly teaching us: don’t complicate things, just do what he asks. Doing that which is pleasing to God is not as hard as we often make it out to be, we simply need to stop, listen, and then act. God is not pleased when we worship him the way that we want to worship him, he is only pleased when we worship him the way he has asked us to. God is not pleased when we live the way we want to live for him, he is only pleased when we live the way he has commanded us to. We could continue down this list, but I think you get the point. Do you want to show God that you love him? Do you want to please him and show him your true faith? Don’t guess. Don’t assume. Just listen & obey. 

Thank you for tuning in to today’s episode, and I would invite you back Tuesdays-Fridays for a brand-new episode each day. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.