Don’t Tell Me What To Do!
by Roger Pook
Obedience – doing what you’re told – isn’t a popular concept these days. In fact, you’ll find an alarming number of people who proudly say that no-one has the right to tell them what to do. They think it means losing their individuality and self-respect. This is a terrible misunderstanding.
When Jesus gave His disciples their final orders, what we call the Great Commission, He gave them this specific instruction: to teach others. So they taught others, who taught others, and so it went on until somebody taught you, and here you are reading this! But what were they supposed to teach?
Jesus didn’t say teach them some stories, some theology, or teach them to think, to understand, to love, to pray, or even to believe. He actually said teach them to obey - to obey His commands.
Has anybody ever taught you to obey Jesus? Not just to believe Him, accept Him, know Him, love Him and follow Him, but to obey Him? Whether you feel like it or not? At any moment of the day or night?
The Great Commission of Jesus makes it clear that only this kind of total obedience is the key to receiving the promise of Jesus that He will be with us always, to the end of the age. What a wonderful promise for a wonderful life!
Prayer: I love Your commands more than gold, more than the finest gold. And so I follow all Your instructions; I hate all wrong ways. Your teachings are wonderful; I obey them with all my heart. The explanation of Your teachings gives light and brings wisdom to the ignorant. In my desire for Your commands I pant with open mouth. Turn to me and have mercy on me as You do on all those who love You. Amen. (From Psalm 119:127-132).
Roger Pook For 21 years Roger Pook and his wife Christine served in Central and Eastern Europe, based in Hungary at the Úr Rétje centre of Ellel Ministries. From there they travelled and ministered across the length and breadth of the former communist world. In 2018 Roger retired as Regional Director and they now live back in the UK, where Roger still serves on the Executive Leadership and as a trustee of The Christian Trust. They still travel for the Kingdom!
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