A tug-of-war

I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands. (Psalm 119:60)

To make haste to keep God's commands requires some challenges at times, doesn't it? We find ourselves waffling just a bit on occasion, all because the moment presents so many options that appeal to our senses or emotions. Some call this 'temptation' - it could very well be, but there will always be opportunities to compromise, even just a little bit, that aren't always 'temptations'. They are just choices to move in the right direction, but just a wee bit off the mark God intended for us. Compromise isn't always 'huge'. Most of the time, it is the simplest choices where we compromise just 'a wee bit'. It isn't like we eat the whole box of chocolates! 

It might take us a while to develop the type of obedience that 'makes haste', without delay, to obey God's commands. It isn't that we don't want to be obedient - it is that we are still just a little bit intrigued by the 'other choices' offered to us. The good news is that the closer we get to Jesus, the more we learn of him and trust him with our life's choices, the easier it will be to turn a blind eye to those 'other choices' when they arise. Don't beat yourself up today if you aren't perfectly obedient. God doesn't! He gives grace to those who ask for it, strength to make the right choices, and a change of heart that goes right along with that strength.

I know that a good many believers struggle with 'who' is in control of their lives. Most of the time, it isn't that we don't want God to be in the lead - it is that we haven't figured out how to actually give him the lead! We keep taking it back and then we wonder why we aren't 'making haste' toward obedience all of the time. It isn't that we think we can do life better without him - it is just that our emotions sometime respond faster than our spirit does. We act upon emotion, negating the tug within our spirit that is asking us to respond in a different manner. We aren't to beat ourselves up over that tug of war that is going on inside of us - we are to take it to Jesus. 

Too often, we think the 'tug of war' within is ours to deal with - that obedience is this constant struggle to do good when all around us there are options to 'do mostly good with just a little bit of bad mixed in'. Jesus wants us to recognize that his hold on the rope is compromised whenever we take the lead position in holding that rope. Perhaps our struggles with obedience would be a little easier if he moved forward on the rope and we stepped back. Just sayin!