Obedience

Obedience.  Now, that's a mouthful.  That one word - that one concept seems to elude those of every age.  As I grow older, I see that obedience is a virtue that is never fully attained.  Even now, we find ourselves struggling to be obedient at times.  (Remember, we're the Joneses that are imperfect...)

Perhaps there are some reading this that are wondering why I am talking about obedience as an adult.  No matter your age, obedience is still required in everyday life.  Laws, Rules, Regulations, Figures of Authority... the list goes on and on.  Even in the drive thru at your local fast food restaurant, you must be obedient by staying in the drive thru lane, ordering at the speaker, and paying your money at the window.  I remember stories of people pulling pranks by driving through on their bikes, or walking through the drive thru.  People don't do that anymore... for a while there were signs on the drive-thru windows about the legality of serving customers who are not in motorized vehicles. 

For some reason, I've never had problems being obedient in the drive-thru lines of the world.  But, the Bible... God's Holy Word... A Love Letter from my Creator... is the one that I struggle with the most.  I'm not going to get into the whole works based faith discussion.  My faith is the opposite - it frees me from trying to work to gain my salvation.  Instead, I am free through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to work as my reasonable response to the gift of life that I have been given.  (That's my attempt at a very condensed explanation regarding works based faith versus faith based works.)

I would say at the end of 2009, we found ourselves questioning if we were being obedient with our money.  We were tithing, but we were concerned that we weren't being completely obedient because we were tithing based on our net income instead of our gross income.  So, we made a commitment to make that change - to tithe based on our gross income. 

Believe it or not, it did not make a gross difference in the amount.  Maybe only $15 or so...  But, for some reason, this is the event that i have pinpointed as the beginning of our journey to surrender. Our attempt to be wholly obedient in the amount of our tithe.  And let me tell you, once we implemented that small change, it seemed like everything started to spiral downhill... (but it didn't stay that way for long!)

The journey to surrender, for all intensive blogging purposes, began with an extra $15.  It seems like it has been a roller coaster ride:  ups, downs, things moving faster than we can keep up with...  But, at every turn, during every second of this journey, God has been in control.  He has led and guided us in ways that seemed confusing, depressing, joyous, exhilirating, and heart breaking, all at the same time.  But, really He was leading and guiding us according to His plan for our lives.  And let me tell you, it is more amazing than anything we could have imagined for ourselves!

Until next time,
The Traveling Joneses

P.S.  This is a journey that truly has no beginning date.  I have a Creator that has known me since the beginning of time!  And, you do too.   If you would like to know more about God and His love for you, please click here.