What is Christ-like obedience? This is a question that I posed to a group of college students that I meet with weekly. I got some really great responses from these guys. One of the responses really stood out to me and has been in my mind all week. My friend answered brilliantly saying, “Christ-like obedience is the pursuit of Jesus in all things in this life, even when it costs you comfort, pleasure, or pain on earth, because you know that the glory you will receive in heaven is worth it”.
Wow, what a great answer right? It’s worth saying again. Christ like obedience is the pursuit of Jesus in all things in this life, even when it costs you comfort, pleasure, or pain on earth, because you know that the glory you will receive in heaven is worth it. What a beautiful truth, not only has Jesus saved our souls, but he has bought for us through his perfect life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the grave an eternity in heaven weighted in great glory and honor. The apostle Paul says it this way in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”.
I believe that the reason we fail to obey Jesus so many times in our faiths is because we do not truly believe that Jesus is better (more satisfying) than what we pursue today. We also fail to believe that eternity is worth living for, so instead to give our lives to earthly pleasures.
Our lives are often times focused around our earthly world rather than our heavenly homes Jesus has secured.
This answer to my question has resonated with me all week. Every moment this week that I faced temptation to sin I thought about this idea of Christ-like obedience. If I am centered on this earthly life then I will be quick to be selfish with my resources, never look to serve my wife, and have no reason or motivation to love those around me. But if my heart is fixed on the truth that this life is not ultimate—not my home— then I will be rooted in Jesus and ready to endure, fight sin, and live on mission…or as Paul puts it “be poured out like a drink offering” for God’s glory. Embracing this type of paradigm shift will cause us to obey Jesus in radical ways.
Thank God that this broken world is not our home, so let’s not live like it is. We have great hope in the gospel! Evaluate today, how well do you endure? Are you fighting the good fight and taking hold of eternal life which you have been called (1 Timothy 6:11-12)? Evaluate today, around which world is your life centered…heaven or earth?
