Lord, Give Us Men!- WEDNESDAY

 LORD, give us men!

What is the greatest reason, or some would say "motivation," for obeying God's precepts?  This same question could be asked for obeying Jesus' specific commands to His disciples.  It could also be asked about obeying His leadership in our life regarding everything from behavior, the use of our time, our priorities, and the use of His resources that He has entrusted to us.  What would be the greatest reason for obeying Him?  I don't think it is fear of Him, as was the motivation by some believers in history.  I don't think it is because we would hope our life would be easier and better or more prosperous, and that is why we obey Him.  I don't think it is because we can do more things for Him, and therefore fulfill our responsibilities as Christians.  This is a good reason, but I don't think it is the right reason.  I believe the right reason for obeying God is because He loves us and we show our love for Him in return by trusting Him and obeying Him.  You see, trust and obedience are co-dependent on each other.  If we trust Him we will be gladly obedient to Him.  If we are obedient to Him then we show Him that we trust Him.  If this is the case, then we must ask what would make us trust Him more?

Pete said, "Men who know Your voice and whose greatest delight is to obey."  What is he saying here?  It is men who know their King's voice who greatly delight in obeying Him.  It is men who know their King's voice who are given instructions with how to love their wives and honor Him in their homes.  It is by His voice that He leads us in how to live, how to act and how to serve in this world where we live.  Obedience is always required when we are given those instructions.

Sometimes we know God's voice clearly but choose to disobey, or stall, or try to avoid something uncomfortable.  Sometimes we cannot see a favorable outcome if we obey Him even though we have heard Him and we are reluctant to obey.  If we do this, we will get hung up in this indecision and stall in our spiritual journey as surely as the Children of Israel got hung up in the wilderness until they learned to trust God.  To help our stalled walk, we must rely on the co-dependent aspect of obedience, which is trust.  Even though we cannot see a favorable outcome result from our obedience to God, still we obey if we trust Him.  Trust and obedience are action words.  We cannot have one without the other and understand what God is doing in our life.  What would that be?  Pete said it clearly.  He said, "Men whose sacrifice, service, and love, are renown, and who are known to have spent time with You."  Let me say it my way.  It is a man who spends time with God in an abiding relationship with Him, men who live in close proximity with Christ, these are the men who have no problem obeying Him.  We do not negotiate.  We simply step out in obedience because we know Jesus loves us and His plan is good.  We trust Him.

Listening to God's voice is dependent on certain guidelines which we need to follow to keep us safe from being misled by our biases or even a false message.  First we do not entirely trust our heart, for it can be mislead if we do not have a filter.  A man needs a healthy intake of God's word to help him discern God's voice as it relates to his feelings from his heart.  Make sure the heart is spiritually healthy and being fed from God's word and then our feelings are filtered through a clear process for hearing God.  However, do not lean entirely on your own interpretation of scripture.  Seek other points of view.  Ask someone else that you trust for his or her wisdom for giving you another point of view of the same scripture.  Look at respected Bible commentaries to edify your own view.   Finally, after you do these things, obey God and trust Him with the outcome.

When we see men who know their King's voice, it is because they spend time with Him.  When they spend time with Him, they begin to sound and act more like Him.  When these men walk through life, their moral authority is a powerful influence on their world.  These are the men and women who have carried the DNA of Christ for the last 2,000 years, and the ones who must step up now to continue taking it to our world.  We need men like this.  Lord, Give Us Men Like This!