Daily Devotions
Good Advice or Authoritative Commandments?
Reading for December 3rd: 1 Corinthians 14-16
If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:37
We get a lot of advice. We get advice on everything from how to lose weight to how to save money, from how to raise children to how to fix a leaky faucet, from how to battle the common cold to how to get rid of crabgrass.
Sometimes we seek advice. Other times advice comes unsolicited. But whether we want it or not we all use a filter when it comes to advice. We don't believe everything we hear.
The most important filter is credibility. If our advisor has credibility, we're more likely to listen. For example, when it comes to health questions you'll more likely listen to a physician rather than a friend or relative who has some "home remedy" they think works.
So a willingness to follow orders is largely a reflection of what one thinks of the source of advice. And if that is the case, what does our willingness to obey God's commandments say about us? Do we value what He says? Do we believe His way is best? Or do we believe we can do just fine without Him? We may say to ourselves, "We know how to run our lives, our homes, and our churches. We don't really need God's advice."
The problem with that way of thinking is that what God says in his Word is not merely advice or recommendations to follow. He gives rules and commands, not suggestions.
But that brings us right back to where we began. How do we view God? Is he just another really good, reliable source of advice for our lives, or is he the sovereign Creator of all the earth who holds our life and breath and eternal destiny in his hands? That's the question.
Great God and Father in heaven, we bow before your scepter acknowledging you as the holy, holy, holy God. We are silent before your throne, ready to hear what you have commanded for our lives.
