Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

DIRECT ORDER

A cantankerous old lady came through surgery with flying colors. The surgeon sternly told her when she awoke, "In accordance with the rules of this hospital, you will have to walk ten minutes the very first day, and you will be out of here in a week since hospital beds are at a premium." On her first day, the old woman took her steps as ordered and within a few days was walking all over the hospital. Later, her family tried to pay the doctor a bonus for his work.

"Nonsense," he said, "It was just a routine operation." "It's not the operation we're marveling over," said the grandson. "It's her walking. She hasn't taken a step in six years!"

Some people apparently respond to direct and firm orders. In his Philippian letter, Paul gave several direct orders that leave no room for argument. One of the sharpest was: Do all things without murmurings and disputings (2:14). This advice is not always easy to take, but it is Holy Scripture.

Paul said "all things." This means not only religious things but even menial tasks of the day such as washing dishes, mowing the lawn, and carrying out the trash. Paul said to obey this order so that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...(Philippians 2:15).