My mother has the gift of teaching and, when growing up, that included us girls. We could be doing almost anything and, suddenly, she would present a hypothetical question.

On the first occasion, I recall asking her a question in return. Only, mom's response was, "No, I'm not going to answer. I want to hear your answer. Think about it. God gave you a brain and I expect you to learn how to use it. It's important. All through life, there will be someone telling you what to believe, you'll run across strange religions, and such ~ and you need to be able to reason for yourself, and 'know' what you believe. So, think about it and give me your answer."

And, I did. Though, immediately, it became obvious that my answer would not suffice without an explanation of how I had reached that conclusion. Next, mom made suggestion as to further considerations and, soon, the expectation, within these lessons, was well known. Often, these questions were deep and tricky, and I have been using the brain God gave me ever since.

Though, as a result of a couple generations of thinkers, it has made our family well aware that other children never received these lessons. Not only do we realize that we think differently from much of the world, but also that most are not thinking at all. In all honestly, offended or not, it appears as if people believe whatever they are told to believe; regardless of how educated they have become.

From infancy, we were taught to obey parents, listen to teachers, and follow leadership. While each of these ideals have scriptural base and merit, somewhere along the way, we began to think there was another path to righteousness and, often, that path was religion (whether our god became the shepherd, the congregation, or the law itself).

Obedience is not something we are born with and it is certainly not something that can be achieved under the law; Hebrews 7:19. It is a tool of survival that is 'learned' in the valley of hard knocks, Hebrews 5:8-9.

In the spirit world, there are only two forces. One is good; the other is evil. There is no third option. I repeat, there is no third option. Obeying God results in blessings and all else results in a curse, Deuteronomy 11:26. Every choice comes with a consequence, be it positive or negative, Galatians 6:7.

Obedience is a conscious and deliberate choice to stop dead in one's tracks for the purpose of, immediately, seeking God's direction, then to follow it; as that is the only path Satan cannot defeat. Then, once we begin to see the benefits, we finally actually get it and obedience truly becomes our choice. (God is not a dictator. He is our protector.) Only then do we begin to grow into spiritual maturity as we, finally, realize it is a joy to obey and we choose to seek God more; for protection in everything!

© 2004 by Joyce C. Lock
http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/

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