Obedience, not duty

"If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to "walk in the light" of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to "walk in the light as He is in the light . . ." ( 1 John 1:7 ). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation-just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood."

Do you ever struggle with this? Do you ever find yourself going to a Young Group event just because you should? Do you ever have to drag yourself to Wednesday night church just because you know people might ask where you were? Have you ever helped on a service project just because you didn't have a good excuse not to?

Jesus Christ has so much more for us. He wants us to open ourselves up to a relationship with him and his love that will spawn a burning desire for obedience, not duty. Total obedience to the Word of God is not a natural or easy thing. Sometimes there is pain associated with amputating our fleshly desires. But which of us, if we had a cancerous tumor, would not get the surgery done immediately? Christ has already paid for the surgery, and He's willing to do the surgery. He's the only surgeon in the universe qualified for this type of surgery, and He's never failed. Ever.....Ever....not once. He's not promising that it won't hurt, but He does promise success if we trust Him.

Let's trust him.