WOULD YOU STILL OBEY GOD IF… ?

By Andrea Guachalla

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce
all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Luke 14:33, English Standard Version

We have heard this before. Following Christ has a glorious cost, and that is giving up your own life to serve him in gratitude for the life he gave you, and because he saved you without you doing anything to deserve it. 

But what does it mean to renounce it all? It means that we will renounce our old self, that is true for everyone who is born again by the grace of God. Added to that, for some it means you’ll give up some friendships, for some others it might mean that you’ll sacrifice worldly diversions, for some it will mean to quit a job. And for some others – although I dare say it is not that common – it means that you’ll give up EVERYTHING, you’ll sacrifice even your wildest dreams for the love of God and for the sake of others.

Have you ever been in a position of sacrificing things you once loved for the sake of following Christ? If your love for God has ever led you to sacrifice something big for the sake of others you’ve probably learned a couple of things.

First of all, that your mind has two personalities: the nicest one knows that giving up things you love for the love of God and others is the right thing, and the counterpart, the selfish one, is the one that tries to rationalize the possibility of making a self-centered decision.

Secondly, you know that God humbles you and reveals to you the most hidden idols of your life, giving you the opportunity to affirm that you love God “with all your mind, heart, and strength”. 

And thirdly, if you’ve ever had to give up your life, your dreams, your plans, or whatever else that is important for you for the sake of doing the right thing in the eyes of God, you know how often your friends and family members use these phrases to comfort you: 

“God will reward you,” “God will fulfill the desires of your heart,” “God will certainly give you something greater than what you had before.”

Thus all of these statements come from empathic hearts that want to comfort you in your loss, they carry some danger in them. They carry the risk of misunderstanding the sense in which they were intended for: “God owes you,” “You deserve to be rewarded,” “You deserve something greater.”

But, do we really? 

No matter how great our selfless acts seem to be, do we really deserve to be rewarded? Do we deserve the desires of our hearts to be fulfilled?

And the answer is: not really. 

Why?

Because according to the Word of God we are unworthy servants: 

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” 

Luke 17:7-10, English Standard Version

Doing good things is not a favor towards God or towards others. It is merely the least God deserves as our Creator and Savior. Furthermore, all that is good in us doesn’t come from ourselves. All good things come from above. Even the small selfless acts that we make come from a gracious God who enables us to see what’s right and what’s wrong in his eyes, and act accordingly. He decided to give us light. To us who are just unworthy servants, and who are enabled – by his divine grace – to serve a Holy God. What a privilege! 

You may think that the greater your sacrifices, the more God will reward you or owe you, but the truth is that only God can decide to bless you with something you desire, God can decide to give you something great by his grace, he is able to bless you abundantly (2 Corinthians 9:8). But at the end of the day that’s what it is: Grace. Nothing less and nothing more. It’s not something you deserve. 

If we get trapped in the thought that God will reward us for the sacrificial acts we do – although serving him is already a reward – , they are not sacrificial anymore. Those are selfish acts run by the thought of wanting to be exalted and rewarded with something equal or greater than what we have sacrificed. If this is our mindset we deceive ourselves.

And I say it wholeheartedly, I sometimes deceive myself too.

So, let me ask you the same question I’ve been asking myself lately: If you would know for a fact that God will not reward you with something tangible in this life for the things you do, would you still decide to obey him? Would you still decide to walk in his truth and his standard of what’s right? Would you still love God and give up your life to live for Him? 

Let’s imagine for a second that you and I can travel in time and we decide to go ahead a couple of decades and all we see is that our selfless decisions were not rewarded the way we wanted. After seeing that, would you still obey God’s commandments in the present?

Take some minutes to think it through before your answer. 

You wish you could say yes firmly and unhesitatingly, however… can you really?

If your answer is no, I can tell you by experience that your pride is greater than your love for God. And for that, my friend, you ought to repent and ask the Lord to give you a humble heart that seeks to serve him, and not to serve yourself. Our joy and purpose must come from fulfilling the will of our Father, we must understand like Jesus did that:

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me  and to accomplish his work.”

John 4:34, English Standard Version

Now, if your answer to the previous question is yes, may the Lord strengthen you as you seek to serve him no matter the consequences, may he give you the right motivation to serve him and serve others with His sacrificial love.

Whether you answered yes or no, one thing is true for all: sometimes it is not easy! We all struggle at one point or another with discontentment, or uncertainty of what the future holds, sometimes we doubt his goodness and promises. However, we can be sure that his promises were, are and will be true forevermore, he will never forsake us nor leave us, and we can trust that the Father will honor us (John 12:26).

However, will this be our motivation to serve him? 

No.

He doesn’t need us and yet he created us, he was all love and harmony even before us, and yet he decided to show us his love and mercy enabling us to be in a relationship with him, he sent his own son to pay for our trespasses, and then sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us!

Let us not obey him because we want to be rewarded, or because it feels good to do so. Let us not obey because we are seeking self-exaltation. Let us obey God because he gave us a new heart, let’s serve him because he shows us the way and what’s good in his eyes, something we couldn’t do in our own strength. Let’s serve him because we are grateful for our holy Savior Jesus Christ and want to be more like him. Let us serve him because we love him, and because loving him enables us to love others. 

That’s why we obey God. That’s why we spend our lives getting to know Him and seeking to do his will, and persevere in this race.

Lord, let us know you, love you, serve you and serve others today and always!