Obedience
Obedience is a concept which is not very popular. For some reason we think only in terms of constraints rather than the freedom we gain. Here in the USA an popular expression is "I'm keeping my options open." The net effect of this, as i see it, is that one doesn't commit to anything and in waiting for something better to come along, truly fails to experience anything.
Is a train free to run anywhere it wants? Or does it do much better when limited to tracks where it can go a very long way indeed? Humans were created to be in relationship with God. There are those things which increase or decrease that relationship.
I think of obedience as a way to increase the relationship. It's His love which draws us to Him and love is something to cherish and protect. Just as in a relationship between 2 people, some things increase and others diminish or even damage the love they share, so this is also true of the love we share with God. We can increase, diminish or even damage our love for Him.
Obedience to His will, His commandments, replacing our wills in favor of His are all what will cause our love for God to grow and flourish.
What could possibly be a better option?
Is a train free to run anywhere it wants? Or does it do much better when limited to tracks where it can go a very long way indeed? Humans were created to be in relationship with God. There are those things which increase or decrease that relationship.
I think of obedience as a way to increase the relationship. It's His love which draws us to Him and love is something to cherish and protect. Just as in a relationship between 2 people, some things increase and others diminish or even damage the love they share, so this is also true of the love we share with God. We can increase, diminish or even damage our love for Him.
Obedience to His will, His commandments, replacing our wills in favor of His are all what will cause our love for God to grow and flourish.
What could possibly be a better option?
Labels: obedience
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 11:11 AM
1 Comments:
At 1:38 AM,
Rob-bear said…
There are some thoughts about marriage, including polygamy, in the Bible.
1. Polygamy was accepted practice in the early days. Abraham had two wives. Sarah, of course, was his wife. But Hagar, who had born him a son, would also have been considered his wife. And it was complete violation of social tradition in that time for Abraham to have put Hagar out of the family, along with Ishmael.
In the same line of thinking Jacob had four wives -- Leah and Rachel, of course -- but also Bilhah and Zilpah -- who were give as "wives."
The logic of the situation is that you needed a large family to manage your agricultural operations in those days.
2. In the First Letter to Timothy (chapter 3) the writer says both Bishops and Deacons were to be "the husband of one wife."
That model didn't become more generalized until the middle ages, with the rise of towns, cities, and large lordly holdings.
3. The one challenge here is that Bp. Akinola reportedly has more than one wife himself, and has taken more than one to Lambeth. However, while I have verbal indication of this, I have seen nothing in print.
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