"The Ball Cannot Obey."

Yesterday, while getting some exercise outside, my girls were bouncing a soccer ball back and forth. The little one was getting frustrated because she had trouble catching the ball when it was bounced to her. She grumbled to her sister, "The ball is just obeying you." I continued walking but in a matter of fact way retorted, "Balls cannot obey because they cannot make choices. They go wherever they are kicked or pushed. Obedience requires a choice."

As I kept walking, I began thinking about the statement I had made. Was what I said true? Can it still be obedience if there is not a choice? The dictionary defines obedience as, "The act of obeying rules, laws, or requests. The state of being obedient." Obedient is defined as, "Wiling to obey." Obey is defined as, "To carry out or comply with (a request, an order, a law)."

So, does obedience require a choice?

Jesus told the story of a man with two sons. He asked both of his sons to go work in the field. One son said, "Yes," and the other said, "No." In the end, it was the son who said, "No," that ultimately went to the field. So sometimes, it is not the presence of many options, but a choice merely of yes or no.

Wait, is there more to it than that, even?

How did it define "obedient?" "Willing to obey." Willing is defined as, "Disposed or inclined; prepared. Acting or ready to act gladly. Done, given, accepted, or borne voluntarily or ungrudgingly." By that definition, being obedient is more than just action, but rather it is a matter of the heart. It is an attitude of gladly and ungrudgingly doing what we have been asked. It is ready to act even before the request is made.

Two weeks ago, we asked you to pray for wisdom as we and our supervisors begin to seek our next steps. Three days later, we got an email with a list of possible job opportunities. One immediately jumped out at us. The next day Rich sent an email to supervisors requesting more information regarding the email we had received. We expressed that we felt this was the way the Lord was leading us, but somewhere in my mind I wondered if it was really what we were supposed to be doing or just the absence of other choices. Then we were asked to pray about another possibility. It had lots of positive things about it, but the more we prayed between the options, the more sure we were of the original position. Out of obedience to our supervisors, we kept praying about the second option. It was no longer a matter of not having other options but rather indeed being convinced that this was where the Lord was guiding us. (We have talked with our supervisors and things will move forward in the process.). When it came to being asked to consider the other option, we were willing to obey.

On the way home last night from dinner, we were driving through the neighborhood. It was after the time of breaking the fast and people were praying at their gathering place before eating their big meal of the day. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Many of them would say that we are Christians because we were born into Christian homes. (We know that we are Christians because we have chosen to follow Jesus in all areas of our lives.) Many of them would say they are their religion because they were born into it. Being born into it does not make it obedience, because it is not a choice. Many of them do not even know that there is a choice to be made. Please ask that God would reveal to those that are earnestly seeking Him that there is a choice and what the options are. Pray that they will choose the Way of Truth and that they will be wholly committed to it.

Obedience then could be defined as "The state of being prepared to obey gladly and ungrudgingly." So, no, Lydia-Ann, balls cannot obey.