Obedience - 10 Commandments

This month the topic is probably one of the most controversial in both the secular and Christian communities alike, Obedience. 

As a Chapter 1 / ESEA teacher in the Public School System, I have seen first hand how offensive the word obedience can be to the modern generation.  Children are no longer told to obey.  The teachers must be careful how they speak to a child so they do not use sensitive words such as Obey or any instruction that is not presented in a way as to make the child think it was their idea. 

When my husband and I were raising our four children, We had a basic belief that we, their parents had the right and responsibility to lead, guide and teach obedience to these children given to us for a short time in their lives.  We were to mold then into law abiding, upstanding good moral citizens of the community.  To do this, obedience had to be taught. 

Our one and only son was the most difficult to teach this concept of obedience.  He had a mind of his own.  While we were able to steer him, he did maintain his "own mind".  After graduation from high school and attaining AutoCAD Certification from the local technical school, he promptly joined the military.  He was about to see what obedience was all about.  When I went to his graduation from Basic Training, I was impressed with what the U.S. Army had accomplished in six weeks, that I had been unable to achieve in 20 years.  He had become the most obedient young man I knew.  He was now sensitive to laws and what was right and ethical.

How did they do it? 

The military, from what I observed as an outsider, has perfected the art of obedience.  It is very important that those in the military are trained to work together, and to obey.  This is important because as anyone one on a team knows, when one member is not being a positive member of the team, the whole team suffers. 

How did the military get to my son?  How did they break through that independent mindset that my son had developed? 

They broke his will.  They broke his agenda.  They broke his rights.  In the military, the only rights you have are to Obey and to Obey and to Obey!  Once that is perfected other rights are given back. 

When my son was in basic training, he had everything taken away from him. 

Everything that gave him an individual identity.  They took his personal clothes and gave him US Army issued uniforms, from top to bottom, hat to shoes.  He was now one of them.  At least he looked like them. 

He was told when to get up, when to go to bed.  He was told when to speak and when not to speak.  He was told who he could talk to.  He was not allowed to call home, except then they said so. 

He had all pleasures taken away.  He was not allowed any care packages with food, especially cookies, candy or even gum.  Nothing that was fun.  He was not even allowed to read the newspaper.  He was cut off from the world, so to speak.  He relied in the US Army to take care of him.  They were training him for obedience. 

When I saw my son at his graduation from Basic Training, I was impressed.  He was different.  He was an example of being all he could be.  He was changed because he had learned obedience down deep in his soul. 

Later, after about a year or so, I was again surprised to see how much more my son could change.  When he was sitting in a desert in the Operation Iraqi Freedom war, he was again learning as he viewed the frailty of life.  The scud missiles whistling overhead had some impact on his sensitivity for self examination.  He wrote letters home telling us how sorry he was for all the trouble he had caused while in school.  He had gotten many "referrals" but never was in serious trouble.  He told us how he could now see that we were right.  We were so impressed with his new insight and appreciated him sharing this. 

What has happened to our son?

He was taught obedience by learning to trust those in authority over him, the US Army.  This was achieved by taking all the "stuff" away and getting him down to the basics. 

Perhaps God does this for us. 

He teaches us obedience as we learn to trust Him.  How do we learn to trust Him?  When we loose our job?  Or loose the promotion?  When we loose modern conveniences in life, like when a hurricane comes through and you loose electricity for days, we learn how much we depend on conveniences.  Yet God is still there. 

Many people say, after a disaster, that they are just glad they are OK.  They may have lost their home, but they are thankful for their lives.  Back to basics. God is still there. 

When my son was in the war zone, he saw death up close and personal.  He began to examine his life.  God allows us to see death up close and personal when a loved one or close friend dies.  Many people have come to know Jesus as their Savior during or after the death of a family member or close friend. 

God does want obedience.  He says in the bible that we are to trust and obey.  He gives us choices.  We can choose to obey or we can choose to disobey.  The choice is ours. 

God says in the bible, he sets before us life and death.  He says, choose life.  It's a multiple choice question, we have a 50% chance of getting it right.  When we have choices there are really only two choices.  The right choice and the wrong choice.  The way to know which one is right is to ask ourselves which one promotes life and which one promotes death. 

Some choices are more obvious than others, as to which one is right.  Do not murder is obvious, that it is wrong to commit murder.  Other choices might not be so clear.  How about, lying?  Is it OK to tell a little white lie?  White lie?  There is no such thing.  A lie is a lie.  We should tell the truth.  Sometimes there are situations when we do not need to tell someone what was said about someone else.  To not spread defaming information is not a lie.  It is wisdom.  It leads to life and life more abundantly.  The bible talks about covering sin.  That is not lying, it is just moving on.  There can be situations at work where others who are defaming us make mistakes and we could expose them.  The right thing to do is to cover their sin.  Obey God not man.  Let it go.  Move on.  This is choosing life and life more abundantly. 

As we look at the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), we can see these are the basic guidelines for living a life of excellence. These commandments can be summarized into two groups. The first four tell us how to love God and the last six tell us how to love our neighbors.  If we obey the 10 Commandments then we are living the life of love that Jesus showed us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-11, Luke 6:17-26).

The choices God gives us do require us to think.  We do need to think through a situation and make the choice God would want us to make.  That is where trusting comes in.  If we take revenge for being treated wrong, just because we can, we are not trusting God to take care of us.  Revenge is not God's way of love. 

God hears our cries if we seek Him.  I have seen first hand, God move when there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop mistreatment in the workplace.  He hears our cries.  He is ready to help.  He just wants us to trust and obey.   

He has won the victory and He is on his throne!

Father in Heaven,

Thank you Lord for the opportunity daily to make the right choices.

For us to be able to trust you and to obey you. 

Show us Lord vividly how to trust you more, and how to obey you more.  

As we walk through this life, Lord lead us daily down the path

and walking in faith to experience the victory you have for us.  . 

Lord teach us to always value the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

and live each day in victory close to you

filled with your love, and grace and mercy.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

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