OBEY THE KING OF KINGS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.

Ecclesiastes 8:2-6 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Obey the king’s command.

These opening words of our scripture passage for today strike at one of the most fundamental elements of the Christian walk. For after we place our belief and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, receiving the salvation promise from God who gave up His Son out of love to save us, we are to get to work becoming the new creations we become (2 Corinthians 5:17), new creations who enter in a life that is in the world but no longer of it.

What is it that separates us from the world?

It’s simply Jesus who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). For as we walk in His way, then we will always walk counter to the world’s ways, ways that are so often laced with sin and evil and wickedness.

When we walk in the Way of Jesus, we walk on the path of righteousness and the path of righteousness will always lead us to be obedient to the commands of our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lord God Almighty.

Why should we be obedient to the commands of our King?

It would be easy enough to just say, “Because He said so” but our scripture for today gives us the following specific reasons to adopt an attitude of full compliance with the directives and orders God has given:

1. We are to be obedient because we took an oath to do so.

When we choose to accept Jesus as Savior, we choose to live like Him. We make a solemn vow to allow ourselves to be shaped in His image and to adopt His way of living. Just as the earliest disciples walked with Jesus and learned about how He wanted them to carry on His work after He departed, we still walk alongside Jesus today because we committed ourselves to be His disciples, to follow Him and seek His teaching and guidance.

How obedient was Jesus?

Obedient to death on the cross, a terrible criminal’s death to save us because it was God’s will for it to be so. If we live for Jesus, we can’t help but live in obedience. To not do so would mean we have went back on our word when we gave our lives up for Him just as He gave His life up for us.

2. We are to be obedient because His word is supreme.

Who could speak words that are any more important than God?

No one rivals Him, no one. And if you wonder how important His words are, consider just these two truths:

First, His words are what bring us life. The scriptures proclaim it when they say that man does not live by bread alone but only by every word that comes from the mouth of God. His words sustain us.

They also protect us. Take a look at the full armor of God we are to put on every day as we go into the world and face Satan’s attacks. What is our weapon? It is the word of God which is likened to the sword we carry (Ephesians 6:17) and if you check out Matthew 4, you will see Jesus use this weapon to perfection against the advances of Satan, fending off the evil one’s attempts at temptation and in doing so, showing us how to do it as well.

3. We are to be obedient so we can remain free from harm.

Remember that the word of God is our sword. When we fail to be obedient to His word, abandoning it in the way we live, we essentially step onto the battlefield with no weapon and no soldier in their right mind would ever do that. It would simply be crazy. So too is it crazy to turn away from the supreme word of God that is our only protection, the only way we can live and sustain life.

4. We are to be obedient so everything can happen at its appointed time.

Adhering to the word of God leads us to wisdom for He is the only One who can bring it to us. And wisdom, once imparted, leads us into God’s perfect will, His perfect way, and His perfect timing. That perfect timing ensures we do what God wants us to do, when He wants is to do it. We need not guess when that is because He will guide us through His word and spirit, in good times and bad.

Friends, the message here is clear. We are to obey the King’s commands and live for Him with every fiber of our being. For when we do, we will be fulfilling the greatest commandment, the commandment that Jesus provided when asked:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength (Mark 12:30).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com