Before I understood what it meant to be “under authority” I joined the U.S Air Force. I soon learned what it meant, when my Drill Instructor started ordering me to do things I didn’t want to do. I didn’t know all the consequences of saying no, but I knew it was better to obey than find out. Later, I learned respect for authority was for our own good, the good of the service, and the country. Without it, and consequences for those who didn’t, we couldn’t get much done.
Living under authority became all too real when I was ordered to leave my family to live and work in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf War was still underway, so it was a dangerous place to be. Living in a tent and working in the desert heat, wasn’t what I wanted to do but I had to follow orders.
Maybe that is why GOD’s authority doesn’t seem strange to me. He is more worthy of obedience than any military commander or supervisor I ever had. Yes, He is all powerful but He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV) and it makes me want to serve and obey Him.
JESUS showed us how to submit to authority when He “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8 KJV). Though He is GOD, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8 KJV). Everyone will submit to JESUS’s authority, while alive as Savior with benefits or after death as Judge with consequences. Why? Because He is GOD!
Wayne Lance – That’s Good News to Share!