Live in to live out

We might attempt to define obedience by the things we do instead of some other things. For example, we define it as obedient to drive the speed limit vs. careening down the highway as whatever break-neck speed we may feel like that day. We 'do' observe the limit, then we 'keep' our foot from pressing too firmly on the gas peddle, and we 'stay attentive' to the dial on the dashboard. All this to 'do' just one thing - drive the speed limit. Yes, obedience has to do with 'doing' and 'not doing' - it is making choices and living within those choices. It also has a whole lot to do with 'being', as well. We are 'being' renewed day by day - in the love and grace of God. That 'being' actually helps us with the 'doing'. We sometimes get that backwards, though - trying to 'do' in order to 'be', but God's plan is just the opposite!

When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. (John 15:10 TLB)

Michelangelo once said he 'lived and loved in God's peculiar light'. I think this is so true for each of us. We experience God's light in various ways, in certain seasons, and it seems so very new and fresh to us. The room you are in right now looks very different at dusk, dawn, or the fullness of midday sun. The colors you see in the yard at night are not as vibrant as those you observe as the full day dawns. Light has a way of changing things - changing our surroundings, but also changing how we see things within those surroundings. Just as it has a way of changing things in our surroundings, it can change us within, making what we 'do' begin to change, as well. What is happening is that God's light is doing the work of creating newness withing until the actions that spring forth in our 'doing' is quite evident his love dwells within.

Obedience begins by 'living in' God's love and light. It isn't about us 'doing' anything - it is all about us 'being' in the right relationship so that we can be changed inwardly until it affects our outward 'doing'. Obedience is merely an evidence of living in the light! It is evidence we are 'in God's love' and his love is within us! Obedience doesn't have to be cumbersome. It might not come quickly, as with the dawn of light in the morning sky, but when it comes - wow! It brings vibrancy into our lives like nothing else does. We don't 'make light' - just like we don't 'make obedience' come forth from our lives. Obedience is a result of the light - light given, light absorbed, and light illuminated! Just sayin!