Sunday, January 6, 2008

The Consequences of Half-Hearted Obedience




In Genesis 12, God spoke to Abram that he was to leave his country, family and father's home in order to go to the land that would be given him. Yet, Abram decided to obey half-heartedly. He did leave as God asked, but he took his nephew Lot with him. Because of this manner of incomplete obedience, Abram eventually faced serious problems with his nephew to the point that they had to go their separate ways.

In Luke 5, we have the story of Peter and his wonderful encounter with Jesus. Peter granted Jesus the use of his boat to teach the multitudes. When Jesus finished teaching, He provided Peter some very clear instructions. "Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch," Jesus told him. Peter did not question Jesus. He did not obey half-heartedly either. Peter answered, "Master, we've been fishing hard all night and haven't caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I'll let out the nets." The reward did not take long to be acquired. They had such a huge catch of fish, that they had to call in their friends for help!

Today I've learned that it is better to obey God completely than half-heartedly. The consequences of obeying God partially are terrible. Abram lost his nephew's company because of this. If Peter hadn't followed Jesus' instructions completely, he would have missed out on the biggest miracle in his life! Let us stop obeying God half-heartedly. The consequences are terrible.

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