They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24 NASB)
The amazing thing about this passage is not that Jesus took a nap, that there was a bad storm, or that the disciples were frightened by the severity of the wind and waves. It is not even that they turned to Jesus and He rebuked the storm. The demonstration of His power is in this one little word: pauĊ. This is the word translated as "they stopped". The near-fatal storm stopped abruptly when Jesus commanded it to stop. How amazing is that kind of instant obedience? Very!
The thing we often overlook is our responsibility to obey in like manner. Jesus said that, if we love Him, we will obey Him.
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 NASB)
Just as the cessation of the storm in obedience to His command demonstrated His great power, our quick obedience also demonstrates the power of God in our lives. Our lack of obedience says something about His power in our lives, as well.
The commands of Christ were not meant to be merely red letters in a leather-bound book. They are life words, and were given for us to obey. In no way are they considered optional, at least by Jesus. Things like loving our enemy, fasting, turning the other cheek, and sacrificial, suffering service are not popular today. They may not be popular, but neither are they optional for those who love Jesus.
If prompt obedience to the direction of Jesus demonstrates not only His power in our lives but also our love for Him, what does our own obedience demonstrate? Can the world see the power and love of God in us by the way we obey?
Pray today that we and our loved ones would be so compelled by our love for God that it is evident to all by the quality and promptness of our obedience.
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Link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/window-seat.html
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The terrorist prayer focus this week is Hamas. Pray that they will begin to value life, that their efforts at terror will not prosper, and that their social welfare programs will be more important to them than their costly efforts at destruction. Pray for the kind of Damascus road experience that turned a Saul into a Paul.
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