I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands. (NLT)

It’s funny, the things you end up remembering of childhood. I’ve forgotten big moments, yet I vividly remember my sister biting a juicy banana slug to win a movie night with our dad. I remember people incessantly asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I remember asking my own questions, like why my sister got to go to the movies without me. But I had serious questions, too, and one memory that sticks out was asking, why does God want us to kneel before him?

‍

I think this moment sticks out to me because I didn’t get an actual answer, other than, good question, sweetheart. But I knew everything at that age anyway, as all children do, and I remember beginning to disassemble God’s authority with my very mature, grown-up reasoning: If God was actually a good father, he would want us to be independent. My parents don’t want me to bow to them, they want me to be able to take care of myself! They don’t want recognition; they want me to be strong on my own. God is insecure and just wants to feel powerful and in charge.

What I didn’t know then was that God desires to empower his children. He wants us to be capable, strong people who do great things (John 14:12). But to truly do great things––things of eternal value––I realized that I am strongest when on my knees, bowing before the Father, because it is a stance of obedience to our perfect Father. I get to invite the God of the universe into my own personal life through active surrender, which is the ultimate blessing.

‍

And what’s more, God does not desire a mere physical display of obedience. He desires an obedience in and of our hearts, ones that are ready to follow him. “Obedience” is another word that used to strike a conflicting chord in me, and I can still hear my old questions: Why do we have to do what God says? Why is he obsessed with us obeying only him?

‍

I see now that God only desires, encourages, and prompts us toward an ultimate love that we can’t begin to grasp of our own accord, and time after time we see God lead his people toward this love: David’s victory over Goliath and Saul. Esther called to be queen. Paul’s incredible heart-change and ministry. Jesus raising people back to life.

‍

These stories tell a single story of faithfulness. They also remind us that God’s love appears in many ways: David, grab those few stones. Esther, care for my people. Paul, listen to my voice. Jesus, here is my strength.

‍

To obey God and follow him toward love, peace, righteousness, truth...we must be ready and willing to pursue him at every turn, in whatever way he speaks to us. Each moment can be one with or without God. The question is: are we ready to follow him toward perfect life, or will we hold onto the empty promises of the life that sometimes makes more “sense”?

‍

Developing a posture of ready obedience takes a diligent, purposeful hand–one that is willing to sacrifice all else to follow Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus came to show us what that life looks like. He fasted. He prayed. He served. He listened. He loved without boundaries. He rested. He spent time in solitude, and he spent time in community. God spoke to him, worked through him, and Jesus lived his life alongside the Father. This is what it means to develop a posture of ready obedience. It isn’t easy, but Jesus came to show us that growing closer to the Lord is not just possible: a deep life with the Lord is waiting for us to set down the world and “hurry, without delay, to obey [God’s] commands.”

Father, I love you. Thank you for loving me beyond comprehension. Your design has no flaw, and your love has no hardness against me. Help me to grow in you and set my life down to serve and obey. Let me be used to move the Kingdom of Heaven to the spaces here on Earth that you have posited in my care. May it be on Earth as it is in heaven–completely in love with you. Amen.