Is It Easy? – 11.10.09

QUESTION – Is it simple to serve God and obey His word? Is it easy to live for the Lord? Just something to consider…

ANSWER # 1 – YES. It's simple in that it's straightforward and uncomplicated. All I have to do is deny myself (Luke 9:23) and yield to the control (Romans 6:11-14) of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:20-21). I don't even have to depend on my own faith but rather place what little faith I have in One whose faith is perfect (Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:7).

ANSWER # 2 – NO. It's not difficult to understand what serving God is all about, it's just that the whole self-denial thing doesn't come naturally. It's not easy to say no to this flesh. It takes some discipline (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). It takes some spiritual exercise (1 Timothy 4:8). It takes some drive and determination (Philippians 3:13-14). It takes some endurance (2 Timothy 2:3).

ANSWER # 3 – YES. Denying self and obeying the scripture is a matter of my love for God (James 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:14), and it's easier to lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us when we set our eyes on the Son of God (Hebrews 12:2) and consider how He first loved us (1 John 4:19; 1 John 3:1-2).

ANSWER # 4 – YES and NO. Throughout the scripture, God promises abundant blessing and rich reward to the obedient. Intellectually we know that God will make our service to Him every bit worth it, and there are times when we're able to get past the present distress by focusing our attention on the prize that is set before us (Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Corinthians 4:18; Hebrews 11:1). But the problem is that this flesh is just so short-sighted. It just can't see past the here and now.

Romans 7:21-25 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.