Purify Your Mind Series (Part 2) by Joe KirbySample

Obedient Children

John Blanchard said, “To pay the price of obedience is to escape the cost of disobedience" (The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians). Obedience is costly but disobedience is even more expensive. The verse above reminds us that obedience is expected of us. On a daily basis, we are called to renounce our lustful desires, no matter how tempting, and submit our will beneath the will of God. That sounds severe, but we were created for obedience, and when we obey our Creator we discover a wonderful fulfillment. This is my wife’s favorite hymn:

Trust and obey,

For there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus,

But to trust and obey. (J.H. Sammis, "Trust and Obey")

In our former state, we were like a wild dog with no leash. When our flesh lusted, we pursued, we did not deny our cravings of anything they desired. But now we have a new master, we are under new marching orders and what a privilege that this ruined, stray dog now has a home in the palace where the King of Kings and Lord of Lords dwells! One of the most common ways I like to end my private prayers is like this ‘Lord, help me to remember that holiness equals happiness.’ Why do I repeat this so often? Because in this lust-saturated culture, it’s so easy to forget that my greatest source of happiness is to obey the Savior who loved me enough to lay down His precious life for me.