Saturday, February 23, 2008

July 18


Lessons


... serving God helps in every way by bringing you blessings in this life and in the future life too ... Command and teach these things ... be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith and your pure life ... continue to do these things ... Be careful in your life and in your teaching. If you continue to live and teach rightly, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.


I Timothy 4:8, 11, 12, 15, 16 (NCV)


The king ... then all the people promised to obey.... There was no king like Josiah before or after him. He obeyed the LORD with all his heart, soul and strength, following all the Teachings of Moses.


II Kings 23:3, 25 (NCV)



There’s an old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” Yeah. That’s right, and here’s a new one, “Obedience changes lives .. and not just our own.”

To God obedience is the sweetest thing, the evidence of a heart that’s right with Him ... and, therefore, right with others.

So, here’s the truth: our actions and our obedience impact others. This positive thing starts on the inside, so that better choices are made. We choose for God and our character grows strong. As we make consistently good choices, we grow spiritually. In the process, we teach others and impact them in helpful ways—not always easy but for the best. Deliberately or not, the truth in our lives gets caught by others.

In this world, our lives are books and we are read daily. Some books, it turns out, are better reads than others are, but we all get read by somebody. And everyone of us can be a little Josiah. We are leaders to someone, somewhere. We teach them, we lead them ... by our example, by our obedience ... or by our disobedience.

The best lessons are lessons of blessing ... lessons of obedience.


Father, help us to obey. Amen.