“As
faith grows, so comes the blessing of obedience.”
— Tim
& Melanie Downes
Obedience in the Faith is a contentious
issue for Christians, but not so much regarding the production of debates; it’s
more the truth of the multiplicity of angles represented in the coherence
between obedience and faith. The Downes’ quote smacks of this very multiplicity
– a truth that works within so many tangents of wisdom. I love it.
Try these three, below, before we probe the awesome dynamic of wisdom in
this truth:
1.
Faith, when invested in by trust, brings an innate
blessing for simply being obedient.
2.
As faith is plied then there is sown the
requirements of trust that equate to God’s particular and very specific
blessing for that obedience.
3.
Faith is the ‘works’ of the Kingdom, though works
and faith seem dichotomous. The works of faith sow righteousness through
righteousness, as the righteous will live and be approved by faith.
Obedience in the Faith
Grasping wisdom is like mining for precious metals like gold or silver
(Job 28). There is found more material for wealth the deeper we go. Perhaps the
best of finds is made long into the night as perseverance plunges willingly notwithstanding
the sweat, the dust, and the grime.
Faith comes into its own as we continue driving deeply into the shaft of
exploration, which is the obedience of trust – to simply keep going,
notwithstanding the sheer Brinell hardness of shale we are digging through.
This is why faith grows in proportion to the immensity of the struggle. This is
a hard word, for none of us wants to struggle.
But at least there is a divine compensation for those struggles that are
met well. A blessing of obedience is seeing faith grow. Such obedience to observe
faith growing, and to let such growth occur unimpeded, and, to encourage it by
nurturing it, that has to be the wisdom of a salvation life that chooses
salvation touch points every possible moment. That is the Christian’s goal.
Obedience in the faith is the equation of trust melded with time and
patient tolerance to know God is in control. And when God shows through with
the inevitable blessings, for which we can be humbly thankful, we attribute our
works of trust as the righteousness that the Scriptures tell of – that
righteousness of our Lord as we follow as his disciples.
***
To trust God is to repel fear, relinquish the flesh, refute the devil,
and refuse the world. As faith grows, so comes the blessing of obedience.
© 2014 S. J. Wickham.
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