Obedience Begins In Thoughts

God wants our obedience to begin in our thoughts. Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ is our goal, 2 Cor. 10:5. As a disciple of Christ, I have committed myself to following Christ and bringing my life into line with His will. First there must be a willingness and desire on my part to change my thinking and my heart to become like Christ. The word obedience is made up of two Greek words which are 'under' and 'to hear'. Obedience starts with being under the hearing of the instructor. I like to play guitar and learn how to play new things. I was watching some guitar lessons on the computer. I was watching the instructor, and listening to him, and then trying to put in practice what he was doing. I was becoming obedient as I listened, watched, and tried to do what the teacher did. This is a picture of obedience. As we listen to Christ, and watch Him in the Scriptures, and begin to put into practice the things we see and hear, we are becoming obedient to Him. Putting something into practice is very different than only hearing and watching. Watching someone else play the guitar, and understanding what they are doing, is very different than actually picking up the guitar and making your fingers obedient to what you have learned. It takes a lot of practice to do what you have seen others do. So it is with the Scriptures. We are not to be only hearers of the Word, but doers also. We are to look into the mirror of the Word, and make the adjustments necessary. We are to build our lives on the foundation of hearing and doing. If we only hear, and do not practice, we will have no strength at the time of testing.

Obedience = Hearing, Listening, and Practicing.