Obedience: word of the week

Ah, I finally got to go to church tonight...I have only been twice since we have been back from Michigan. Yeah, the sick bug really hit us, but Keaton should be the last one. She still runs her 103 fever, but by my estimate, should only have about 2 more days of it. Lets hope so! They have missed so much church, that I hate to take them back...with their "meltdowns" on starting SS, Choir, etc. all over again. Anyway, Caleb and I went tonight...and it was just what I needed to hear. We are doing a study of the kings...bottom line...all boils down to obedience. Nathan brought out a good point that I never had really looked at before...All of our "heros of faith" and the "Godly prophets" all seemed to slip up right after they were triumpunt over an obedience issue. Noah is a good example...saved only his family, harvested the first fruits of the new, plentiful land, and then got dog drunk and slept naked...and there is where it all began to hit me. Well, not the sleeping naked part...we have too many interuptions with fever coming into our room throughout the night. :) The challenge of obedience is fresh and new every morning. Thank God for the mercies that come too! Just because we think we deserve a pat on the back for being obedient, doesn't mean that we won't dive into the same temptation 5 mins from now. Wow! Never thought of it that way. God gives us opportunity all day long to be obedient. Bottom line is that He wants our obedience more than any sacrifice that we could possibly give. Ouch...that hurt, especially with me giving up the cokes. God doesn't care if I give them to Him, I'm doing that for my own good, wanting my own rewards for my sacrifice, ie weight loss. (Hmmm...wonder if that is why I haven't dropped one pound since giving the sugary things up. Makes you think.) He would rather have me come to Him with all of the other disobedience chocolates, I mean choices, that I have been hoping He would overlook. Another ouchy! So, since it is late...let me leave you with this. I don't know if this is just paraphrased, or if I am actually so dense that I have to have God break it down for me: God wants me to walk in obedience,
Talk in obedience,
Love in obedience,
Work in obedience,
Share in obedience,...
Eat in obedience!

Love you guys. Hope to hear from you soon! Press on!