Obedience

Hebrews 5: 7-8 – During the days of Jesus’ life on Earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

I’m not sure I can really comprehend with my human brain what Jesus must have felt when he prayed to his father. He must have known from the beginning of his ministry that God’s will for his life was to be our perfect lamb. That just makes his 3 years of ministry more remarkable to me.   It says here that Jesus raised loud cries and shed tears...and he asked that his father God save him from death.  It also says that God heard his cries…because of his reverent submission…but the word that caught my heart….the word that God made sure I saw…was obedience.

Jesus’ obedience involved a sacrifice I have trouble wrapping my brain around. He traveled this world with little more than the clothes on his back…he gave so much more than he ever received. E worked longer hours than I could ever imagine. The last days of his life his prayers stressed his body so much that he sweat blood…he took beatings that tore chunks of his flesh… was forced to make a long walk carrying a heavy wooden cross …suffered dehydration…felt pain from nails driven through the bones of his wrists and feet.   And if that pain we have recorded is not enough….just imagine the pain he must have suffered as he died….and waited for the father to deem him perfect enough…worthy to be our sacrifice.

But the miracle we have that gives us hope is that Jesus was heard…and his Earthly prayers were answered as he was carried by the angels to his father…triumphant over death.  He was wrapped in his father’s arms as I am sure God told him how proud of him he was. Oh what a promise for us if we master the skill of obedience.  It makes me feel guilty this evening….and oh so thankful…that Jesus was so obedient.  It reminds me just how spoiled…and selfish I really am…the worst pain I have ever felt does not compare.

Father…thank you for reminding me of just how much your son loved me.  Thank you for allowing your son to model for me how to be obedient….even to death on a horribly painful cross.  Forgive me once again for needing a reminder of how selfish my human flesh is….and help me to continue to strive for that perfect trust in you that can give me the strength to master obedience …help me to listen for your perfect will for my life…and walk with you more closely.  Amen.