Obedience and Listening

This time last year, our family had just moved to Ethiopia to complete the adoption of our 2 youngest.  We arrived basically at the beginning of the Orthodox Easter fast. An Orthodox fast is mostly a vegan diet - no animal products what-so-ever.  The grocery stores get rid of all products that have been made with butter, milk, etc. to help regulate people.  It is a serious deal.   

Before you read that I am condemning the practice, please note that I realize evangelical Believers like myself choose to participate in "lent" or other fasts to prepare our hearts for celebrations.  Also, I have been in Muslim counties during Ramadan so I know the serious nature of followers that believe they need to fast to find favor with God.    

That being said...the whole month I wanted to scream GOD WANTS YOUR HEARTS NOT YOUR WORKS!  As the month waned on, we found the people were weak and lethargic.  Many were unable to work and spent a great deal of time simply sleeping around the city.  (This also helps them prove to others that they are indeed fasting!)  At the end of the fast there was a three day celebration where people killed animals in a ceremonial ritual,  ate raw meat, and almost exclusively stuffed themselves with animal products.  They did this to the point of vomiting and exhaustion.  It was madness in my opinion.  How did this become a "Christian" practice?     
    
I found myself asking our driver and the ladies at the orphan home more and more about what they felt they needed from the Lord or to do for the Lord.  What drove them to this style of fasting?  I found that this was not just something they do at Easter. (which is considered the "great" fast - meaning longest and most important)  If they were to be found "good" in the Lord's eyes, they would fast on EVERY Wednesday and Friday, plus there are 6 other fasting times set during the year. (Christmas and other Saint days)  Wow, the time it must take to "work" on being a proper faster.  I asked why they didn't just adopt a vegan diet altogether and save time and illness.  They said that then it would not be "special" and wouldn't be a sacrifice to the Lord.

I just kept thinking of the verse in 1 Samuel where Samuel tells the people, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams."  (1 Sam. 15:22) So what does the Lord want from us?  The answer is obedience and listening.

The Father wants our walk with Him to be consistent and constant.  Yes, fasting at times to focus our hearts (not to "appease" God or find favor) is a good practice.  At the end of my life; however, I want to be found having walked with the Lord day in and day out.  I want to know His voice so well that in a time of fast or in a time of celebration I hear and know His will.

This year, during this time of lent (or the "great fast"), our family did not choose to "give up" any particular item.  We are choosing instead to pray for the people of Ethiopia.  May they give their hearts to the Lord and not just their sacrifice.  May they see and understand the full grace of the Almighty. 

As we all get our hearts ready for the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Savior, may we ask ourselves where we need to listen and come into full obedience.   

AT  

His Love in Our Perfection

After almost 6 years in Muslim countries, I am still learning new things all the time about culture and habits of the people.  In our recent search for a new home, it was finally pointed out to me why in EVERY home you will find a tile placed upside down in a pattern or a different colored tile laid in the flooring.  I have always assumed it was poor craftsmanship.  However, it is done on purpose.  Their saying is "Only Allah is perfect."  In other words, it is not that they cannot do something "perfect" it is that they WILL NOT because they do not want to take any of Allah's glory.

 

My first thoughts were, "How noble!  Why is it that as followers of Jehovah God we place an importance on being perfect?  Are we disrespecting God?"

 

Christ tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6)  He is instructing us to have a deep desire in all the things of this earth to seek God.  In this we will find fulfillment.  Just before this instruction He sums up what He had been sharing by saying, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) 

 

So what does this mean?  Is Jesus setting us up to offend our Heavenly Father? 

 

No, He is not.  This is yet another picture for us to learn and marvel in the great love of our Lord.  Perfection is not something that can be obtained by ourselves.  We all know that, yet it is our sinful hearts that crave the praise and attention of being our own masters in certain areas of our lives.  The perfection that Christ is teaching is one gained through His redemption and sanctification.  It is obtained through the process of dependence, faith, and a daily walk with the Lord.  

 

Our Heavenly Father desires a personal relationship with us.  He wants our perfection for His glory.  We do not take God's glory or disrespect Him when we are working for His Kingdom purposes.  He takes great delight in working through us.  Paul instructs us in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men."

 

I am humbled that the God of all creation desires to show His perfection and awesome power through His children.  Let us strive to live in a way that shows the world that Jehovah, the Lord Almighty, loves us to perfection.  He is faithful and will never give up on us.