![]() Dear Friend, How are you? I’m well. Earlier this year I meditated the Scriptures on Jesus’ telling John, the beloved disciple to look after Mary, His mother. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25~27) Every time when I read the Scriptures, I thought how dear the mother Mary was to Jesus. She was His earthly mother, yet she was also one of His beloved daughters, as Jesus is God, our Lord. And he entrusted His dear mother and daughter to John, His beloved disciple who leaned on His chest and felt His heartbeat. This time when reading the story, I became very interested to read the verse, “And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” Indeed, they immediately obeyed His command. Then, it dawned on me that Jesus had half-brothers like James and Jude who wrote the epistles in the New Testament. Wouldn’t it be kind of humiliating to them, if mother Mary went to John’s home and was taken care of by him? Especially in those times and in the Middle Eastern culture? Imagine that your father or your mother lives with your friend or your cousin and is taken care of by him or her, while you are around. Interestingly, both Mary and John were very obedient. Later, I looked up David Pawson’s book, Unlocking the Bible and I found it interesting that he wrote extra-biblical records about Mary and John: John was one of the twelve apostles called by Jesus during his earthly ministry, and the only one to live to an old age. Extra-biblical records state that he looked after Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Ephesus until she died. He too died there. Pawson, David. Unlocking the Bible . HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition. It seemed that Mary and John not only obeyed the Lord immediately, without a second thought, but kept on obeying Him until Mary’s death. It reminded me of the picture I saved on my mobile phone. It was Doug Addison’s words, “Like Mary – the mother of Jesus – God may be calling you to something extraordinary. It could be that He’s still waiting on your absolute, undoubting ‘yes’” I thought that to the mother Mary, obeying His commandment to go to John’s home wouldn’t be a big deal, compared with her undoubting yes to become the mother of the Lord as a virgin. Then Mary responded, saying, “Yes! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her. (Luke 1:38 TPT) Imagine what risk she might have in that era. If she had been found to be pregnant before marriage and misunderstood as an adulterer, she would have been stoned to death! Yet, she said, “Yes!” or “Let it be to me according to your word.” No wonder she said in the wedding where Jesus turned water into wine, “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’ (John 2:5)” Friend, are you willing to obey whatever the Lord tells you to do? Even when it sounds against the grain, would you totally trust Him and obey Him? You might have social pressures and even your closed ones wouldn't understand you, when you obey Him. To some, it could be leaving their hometowns and move to other towns or nations. To others, it could be leaving their current jobs. Maybe, He could say to you, “This is your mother!” or “This is your wife!” or “This is your son!”, entrusting His beloved child to your care. Can you serve one sheep for Him? Friend, the only thing that decides the foundation of your house, i.e. the rock or the sand is obeying. Friend, I would like to close my writing by sharing what Neville Johnson wrote in his book, Secrets of the Kingdom (volume 2). I pray this speaks to you and you and I always say “Yes!” to Him, even when we don’t understand. Have a bliss! GOD WANTED IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE God wants people who are easy to give a command to, easy to work with, easy to be intreated. Saul was constantly motivated by fear which made it difficult for him to obey God. Abraham, on the other hand, was easy to work with, so he became God’s friend and God shared His wisdom with him. It is interesting to note that when God spoke to Abraham about circumcision in Genesis 17, He was making a covenant with Abraham. He gave the rite of circumcision to seal it. God was very specific in His instructions: GENESIS 17:10, 12 10. This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which [is] not of thy seed. Specifically, on the 8th day. Abraham could have had an attitude that would cause him to do less than God required. He could have said that the 6th day is more convenient or perhaps the 7th – it won’t make any difference. God said the 8th day and didn’t explain why. What Abraham did not know was that the blood-clotting agent does not form in a baby’s blood until the 8th day; many of the babies could have bled to death if they were circumcised before the 8th day. I have heard Christians say, “I need to understand before I can obey God.” If that was true, faith would not be needed. God wants people who are easy to be intreated, who will obey Him without argument or resistance or excuses. It is always wise to obey, and to obey without question, this quality, this pillar or foundation has to be established in our hearts. It is always wise to obey God even though you don’t understand why; it could save your life in the end times. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46~49) Comments are closed.
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