5/30/14- Obedience

We confess and acknowledge that God has given to man his holy law, in which not only all such works as displease and offend his godly majesty are forbidden, but also those which please him and which he has promised to reward are commanded. These works are of two kinds. The one is done to the honor of God, the other to the profit of our neighbor, and both have the revealed word of God as their assurance. To have one God, to worship and honor him, to call upon him in all our troubles, to reverence his holy Name, to hear his Word and to believe it, and to share in his holy sacraments, belong to the first kind. To honor father, mother, princes, rulers, and superior powers; to love them, to support them, to obey their orders if they are not contrary to the commands of God, to save the lives of the innocent, to repress tyranny, to defend the oppressed, to keep our bodies clean and holy, to live in soberness and temperance, to deal justly with all men in word and deed, and, finally, to repress any desire to harm our neighbor, are the good works of the second kind, and these are most pleasing and acceptable to God as he has commanded them himself. (Scots 12a)

32So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. (Dt. 5:32,33)

Thoughts: We live in a time in which people are not so worried about pleasing God as they are concerned that God please them.  In such an environment, there is a neglect and even a distrust of the Law of God.  As we trust our own hearts, we forget to trust God.  But our hearts are deceitful, blind to our own faults, and quit to excuse and justify our behavior.  God's Law is given to teach us the way we are designed.  It has been proven over thousands of years, yet now we feel like we are much smarter and knowledgeable so that we justify our disobedience with our prideful knowledge.
    Knox reminds us that the Law teaches us how to please God.  Knox speaks specifically about the Ten Commandments that speak of how to honor God and how to benefit our neighbors.  Knox adds some wrinkles in his interpretation.  For example, to believe in one God and to respect His name implies that we would call upon His holy name and respect His Word.  These are part of the first order of honoring God. 
   Living in kindness, working against tyranny, yet obeying the just ruler is important.  A second set is to "keep our body clean and holy."  Perhaps this 1569 document inspired the 1760 statement of Benjamin Franklin that cleanliness is next to godliness.  To keep ourselve sober and temperate would allow us to think and hear clearly the Word of God.
    To be just and not harm our neighbor are also two clear implications from the Ten Commands.  

Prayer: Lord, give me a heart that wants to respond to you.  Give me ears to hear and a deep love for you.