Obedience Feeds Me

Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me." John 4:34

Some years ago God began to teach me about the power of obedience to His will. He showed me, for example, that Jesus' power over His temptation in the wilderness was not just in the words He spoke to Satan. (I've often spoken similar words with less effective results.) No, the power was in the fact that Jesus authentically lived the words He spoke. Jesus’ life and practice were integrated with the equally powerful words He quoted from God's Word.

James encourages us to be "...doers of the word and not hearers only, who deceive themselves." James 1:22 Many believers never truly grow in their walk with Christ because they believe that knowledge of God's Word is all they need. In his book Seven Laws of the Learner author and speaker Bruce Wilkenson shares that in the Hebrew Bible the root word for teach is the same as the root word for learn. And both of these are active verbs. The bottom line he shares is this; by Biblical definition, no matter how much we've been taught, until we're "doing the stuff," we haven't truly learned it.

When I was in junior high I discovered a library book on scuba diving. For some reason the subject peaked my interest and I took the book home and read it cover to cover. When I was through I had learned a great deal about scuba diving. I could discuss the subject intelligently and "amaze friends and family" as they say. I could also cover up one very important fact: to this day, I have never been scuba diving. Until we act on what we know, our true understanding will always be severely limited.

Many believers wonder, "What is the secret of maintaining a vital walk with Christ." Obedience. Obedience to God's Word is much like an iceberg. We only see the small section of the iceberg that appears above the surface of the water. The much larger part is below the surface. When people look at our lives, they see only the part that appears above the surface. They may look and wonder at our powerful walk with Christ (or at the lack of power). What they don't see is the quality of our inner life, below the surface. Have we laid a foundation of acting on God's Word? Bottom line; a life of obedience to the Word of God is the unseen foundation of a vital walk with Christ.

When I first began seminary I was required to read a small book by Helmut Thielicke called "A Little Exercise for Young Theologians." The premise of the book was that learning theology was heady stuff. It can puff you up and make you prideful. This is why Paul warns that "knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know." 1 Corinthians 8:1b-2

The thing is, no matter how much we learn, about Martin Luther for instance, we still don't share his experience. We're sitting in an armchair reading the things he wrote and yet, not only don't we share the suffering that accompanied his revelations, but without meaning to, we add our personal experience of comfort and ease to his words. This greatly enhances the possibility of misunderstanding what he is saying.

That's the way many believers are. We can talk at length "about" the Word. We may have even deceived ourselves into thinking that we truly know what we're talking about. After all we've heard many sermons, attended many Bible studies. But until we are committed to living a life of obedience to the Word and actively "doing the stuff," we haven't really understood what God is trying to teach us.

As a young believer I was never discipled by a more mature believer. In fact I was a Christian for several years before I even knew what discipleship was. For that reason I’ve prayed for years that, at every point in my life, God will give me someone to disciple. I want others to have an advantage I didn't have. As I disciple young believers the question inevitably comes up, "How do I grow in my faith?" They are often surprised by my answer. "Find one thing in God's Word and do it." For many believers it’s far less intimidating (and more inviting) to look at Christianity as a body of knowledge to be mastered, than as a life to be lived. Knowledge is important, even vital, but the experience of obeying the Word is the indispensable next step, if we are to grow.

The fact is, the person who finds something to do in God's Word, then does it, will be granted more light and greater understanding. This then becomes the foundation for searching God's Word for the next thing to do, which again will grant even more light and understanding. This person will always be miles ahead of the scholar, for instance, who knows all about the Word, but may not have applied it in their personal life.

If, on the other hand, a person reads or hears a command or exhortation from God's Word and doesn't do it, according to James, they are on the road to self-deception. He exhorts us to “…be doers of the Word and not hearers only, who deceive themselves.” (Jas. 1:22) That's why to regularly hear and read the word, without the intention of doing it, can be a dangerous practice. And if we make a lifestyle out of this approach, we can become as blind as the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

Jesus said to them, "You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify of Me." Jn. 5:39 Though the Pharisees had spent their whole lives studying the scriptures, they had become so blind that they couldn't see what was right in front of their faces!

As a youth pastor some years ago, I once showed my teens a picture of a knife. I asked, "What is this?" "A knife," they replied. I then showed them a real knife and asked, "Then what is this?" "A knife," they said again. "But you just said this was a knife," I said, showing them the picture. "No" they said, "That's a picture of a knife." I then held up my Bible. "This is a picture of the Word of God." You see, Jesus did not come just to speak the Word. He came as "...the Word made flesh." John 1:14 God doesn't want us just to read the words, only to leave them on the page. The Word was given to us to be taken off the page and to become flesh in our lives.

Just the other day I was sitting in church and the Holy Spirit prompted me on this subject of obedience. He reminded me of John 4:34. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me." As I began to roll this thought over in my mind, another thought occurred to me...according this passage, "Obedience feeds me." Most of us accept the fact that to grow spiritually we must spend time in God's Word. We may even embrace the idea that, in the same way we need food for our physical bodies, we need time in the Word so as not to become spiritually emaciated.

But what if time in the Word is not enough? (Yes, I affirm that time and even memorization of God's Word is indispensable to our growth as believers.) Consider this. Is it possible to spend time in the Word and still be starving to death? Jesus said, His food is to do God's will. That would mean that for Jesus not do God's will would be equal to starving. And if that's true for Jesus, how much more would this be true for us? What if time in the Word must be combined with doing the Word in order for real growth and nourishment to occur?

Though hearing and reading the Word is vital, in order to grow, it must be accompanied by doing the Word. And conversely, to hear or read the word and "not do it" will ultimately lead us to blindness and deception. Picture the individual who has read and heard God's word for years, but rarely applied it. Think how very blind they would become...and never know it. Chances are we know people like that. Chances are we may be people like that.

God knows me and my deceitful heart very well. I can pat myself on the back with the best of them and tell myself that I'm doing a pretty good job. I can convince myself that I apply the Word to a greater degree than other believers. For that reason, as I was writing this He prompted me to take a closer look at the context of Jesus' comments in John 4:34 about doing God's will.

Taking this passage in it’s context we see that John chapter 4 is a classic passage on personal evangelism. It turns out that Jesus spoke these words just after He had witnessed to the woman at the well. The Holy Spirit was reminding me that witnessing to this woman who had five husbands, was like food to Jesus. I don't know how often you share the Gospel with others, or how many others you may have led to Christ. I just know that this was a course correction for me. Witnessing to others about Jesus Christ is just one way that doing God's will can become food for us, but its a great place to start.