So
many of us have heard the cheap “Sorry!” You know what I’m talking about. You
have heard those words in that same circumstance so many times that you know
they don’t really mean it. They are just saying it because they know that is
what you expect. “You left your clothes on the floor again.” “Sorry.” “You left
the ice cream out on the counter to melt.” “Sorry.” “You didn’t fill up the car
with gas.” “Sorry.”
And
then you finally say it. “If you were really sorry, you would have….” A true “sorry”
changes our actions. A true sorry is a course corrective pivot. “Sorry” should
be very difficult words to speak because you know that action must follow the
words.
Words
are cheap. We have heard that phrase down through our lives. And yet for some,
words still come without action. The excuses and finger pointing pile up over
time. And then no one believes what you say. You credibility has gone out the
window a long time ago.
To
say you love God is easy. Hundreds of millions of people say it every day
around the world. And yet their lives don’t reflect that reality. If it did,
the world would be a very different place. There are also hundreds of millions who
do live it out, so the world is not a complete mess.
Loving
God and keeping His commandments are two sides of the same coin. They can never
be separated. But so many people hear the word “commandment” and get an
automatic negative reaction. They feel that doing what someone else says is
somehow a violation of their rights, their personhood. But there are few things
that are further from the truth.
We
do what other people say all the time. When you clicked on the link to read
this, you did what someone told you to do. You had little choice if you wanted
to read this. You were forced to do things because someone else had coded the
command into your device. You chose to obey their command by making a gesture,
a click, an action. Without doing what they said, you could never have gotten
this far.
Life
is filled with commands, demands that other people make on our lives, our
freedom, our choices. So why do we get so upset when Someone with ultimate love
and kindness asks us to obey His commands? I think we are afraid He is going to
such all the “fun” out of life. Hangovers are fun, aren’t they? Waking up with
regrets is fun, isn’t it? Worrying about getting caught, looking over your
shoulder every moment is fun, isn’t it!
We
make obedience to the LORD a false choice between fun and not fun. But
obedience to the LORD is fun, ultimate fun. He knows what is best for us, what
will bring us the greatest enjoyment and happiness. He invented joy, after all.
Pleasure was His idea.
So
next time you are tempted to ignore one of God’s commands, take another set
back and see what you will be giving up when you disobey. I can bet it is much
more painful in the long run to disobey than it is to obey. So let your actions
match your words. You won’t regret it. You will be able to live with yourself
in the morning. Your bank account with be happier. You will be able to look at
yourself in the mirror.