23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. Jeremiah 7:23 (NIV)
"without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with the
best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none. You have to seek
His face; obedience is the only way of seeing Him. All your duties are
obediences. To do what He bids is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to
approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach—an approach to Him who
is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible screen of
things which hides Him from us."*
Cardinal (J.H.) Newman
Two things struck me from this writing.
First, the reminder that "any obedience is better than none." Too often Christians fail to act on what they know because they don't know all that is required. The Israelites left Egypt without GPS. Matthew left a lucrative H.R. Block franchise without know all that would be required. Not knowing the next three steps is no excuse for not taking the first step when God has commanded, "Take the first step."
Second, "Every act of obedience is an approach--an approach to Him. . ." I had never considered obedience as a way to approach God. I have equated disobedience with creating distance, but obedience as an approach? New and novel. Much like yesterday's entry, this line of thinking focuses on the positives of obedience rather than the negatives of disobedience.
* Daily Strength for Daily Needs
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html
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