Obedience

Obedience. I have been wrestling over this today- what does it look like to live a life of obedience? It is uncompromising, no matter where I am at in life. Jesus calls us to love, not only our friends and brothers, but our neighbors, the unlovely, the poor, those who can't repay anything. What does that look like in my life? How do I put that into the practice of obedience? What does it look like to have all this knowledge in my head actually translated to my heart and expressed through the way I live? It's so easy to say I am pursuing Christ, but does my life reflect that pursuit? I am such a visionary- I want a cause to grab onto and fight for. I want to see where I am going so I can make meaning out of what I am doing now. Not that a lack of vision gives any cause for a lack of obedience; I just want to know the will of God and live accordingly. "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later recieve as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8. God gave him a calling and a promise, and he believe and obeyed, trusting God to provide. Am I willing to do this? To obey God and follow even though I don't know where I am going? It sometimes seems like something I don't have a choice in, and yet obedience is always a choice. I have been reminded of this little section in Hinds Feet on High Places, where the Shepherd is speaking to Much-Afraid..."Whenever you are willing to obey me and to follow the path of my choice, you will always be able to hear and recognize my voice, and when you hear it, you must always obey. Remember also that it is always safe to obey my voice, even if it seems to call you to paths which look impossible or even crazy." The first step to obedience is hearing and recognizing His voice- hearing the calling in order to obey. I feel I am at a crossroads of determining what that calling is...is it stretching me to obey and serve in a particulary ministry, or simply to open my eyes to the hurting people who are right around me? Pray I would listen for His voice.