May 15, 2008
Obedience & Godly Grief
Scripture: 1 Samuel 15-16, Psalm 119:41-48, 2 Corinthians 7-8
Observation & Application:
““Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.”
God desires obedience the first time every time. It’s something I say to my kids a lot. ”You need to obey me the first time. It’s for your safety.” It means nothing to me when they continue doing a naughty thing that I’ve asked them not to do until I get physically across the room to them and stare them in the face. Yet, this is usually when they stop. And as they’re on their way to go receive a spanking, they plead with me, “but I stopped, I obeyed, I won’t do it again!” I can see myself doing this with God. I often dismiss the inkling I feel from the holy spirit to choose obedience over sin, and wait for the confrontation, or the big showdown, where I can’t hide from it anymore. What’s worse, is sometimes it never comes. Sometimes he doesn’t confront me in that way, he leaves me alone in my sin. It becomes more ugly, more disgusting, until something breaks: either my heart and I submit to the will of God, or a piece of my life, where the circumstances humble me enough to go crawling on my knees to God begging for him to show me the way of obedience. I need to be shown because sin has clouded my vision, the enemy has lied to me, and God has withdrawn. But he is waiting with open arms for me to draw near to him and he will draw near to me. I have to be humbled and willing to be useful to the Lord again to bring him glory. Getting back to the verse above, I must seek to understand the Lord’s direction for my life and be obedient the first time, or I might as well be serving a false god, because I am not effectively serving Him.
“8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.”
This is something we were talking about last night at life gatherings. While we have forgiveness of sin through Jesus, we sometimes experience grief from it, and rightfully so when it leads us to a healthy repentance. And we should be on guard for if that grief were to lead us anywhere but repentance.
“10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!”
“16 I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you.” What beautiful words Paul uses to encourage them here!
