“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

Obedience Through Suffering - Monday Manna


The purpose of Monday Manna to get together and get to know Christ more through His Word. Each Thursday, a Bible verse to ponder will be posted, either here or at my dear friend Vonnie's blog, My Back Door. The following Monday, those participating will post their thoughts on the verse at their own blogs and link up at the bottom of the post in the Mr. Linky  gadget. The main purpose is to chew on the same Scripture and learn from one another.

I'm hosting this week. And here's the verse.
Though He [Christ] was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8, NKJV
Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Mine are below.
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Photo courtesy of dreamstime
We don't understand why it's so hard to obey. Of course, we notice it more in those who are supposed to be obeying us, but if we're honest, we'll admit that doing what we're told isn't as easy as it sounds.

We speed. We covet. We keep the extra change the cashier gave us.We use the work computer for personal matters. We cheat on a test - or our spouse.

And sometimes, we seem to get away with it. And we think that's when we have it made. But it isn't.

It is when we DON'T get away with it--that is when things are looking good, in God's eyes anyway. Because the best way to really learn obedience to God is often to suffer the consequences of our disobedience. Or even just to suffer.

Because our Savior, Jesus Christ, who never disobeyed the Lord, "learned obedience by the things which he suffered." How much more can we learn about obedience from our own suffering (whether caused by sin or anything else).

The Lord allows suffering in our lives to make us more like Him. And allowing ourselves to learn from us will help us be obedient, just as it did for Christ.

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Thanks for reading. Be sure to link up below with your own thoughts, and read other's posts as well.



Paving Rough Roads With God's Presence

2 comments:

  1. I had to stop by to read your thoughts today even though I'm officially not blogging for awhile.Glad I did!
    How are you?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joanne,

    I have a question. If Jesus was already always obedient to god, how is it that he had to "learn" obedience? Was he not obedient already? He said "I always do those things that please the father", and "I do only those things I have seen the father do".

    What do you think Jesus needed to learn that he, the Messiah, did not already know?

    Love Tonjia

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear your thoughts - please share them!

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