Philippians 2:8
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.”
Thoughts from Amanda Cook
Dive Deeper
Behind the Scenes
I want you to turn in your Bible to John chapter one and read verses 1 through 4. These verses tell us that Jesus is an eternal part of the Trinity, having existed before time, and through whom all of creation was made. He is the I AM. He is the God who breathed out stars and spoke all things into creation. It’s important for us to understand this. Jesus is fully God, eternal and perfect.
Now I want you to skip down to verse 14: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” Does that hit you like it hits me? The eternal God, left heaven and humbled Himself. He was obedient to the plan for redemption. He submitted to the divine plan of reconciliation, even though it meant His own suffering and death.
Really let that sink in.
When Paul, the author of Philippians wrote the above verse, he was holding Christ up as an example for us to follow. But we will miss the lesson completely if we don’t fully understand the lengths to which Jesus went to be obedient. He submitted to leaving the perfection, comfort, and pain-free existence in heaven to take on struggle, pain, and death on our behalf. He did not choose the easy way or the comfortable way. He chose the way that was for our good over His own. He didn’t have to, but He did!
Make it Real
We make so many excuses when it comes to doing the right thing. We reason within ourselves that it might be inconvenient, uncomfortable, or unpleasant to do what God is asking us to do. We hem and haw about the value of obedience. Sometimes this battle wages inside our heads only, but it wages all the same.
It makes me think about the inevitable conversation that occurs in my head every morning. Just to clarify, I hate mornings. I love sleeping in. But my responsibilities prevent that most days of the week. And inevitably every morning my alarm goes off and I argue with myself about getting up. “Just five more minutes?” one part of me pleads. “But then I’ll be late and is five more minutes of sleep really going to make a difference?” another part of me counters. Back and forth I argue with myself about leaving the comfort of my warm, soft bed to start the day.
It’s like this in our hearts. Paul wrote about this in the New Testament too. In Romans 7, Paul talks about doing the very thing he doesn’t want to do and the internal struggle that ensues. I remember cartoons from growing up that depicted the struggle as an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, both whispering suggestions and demands into the listener’s ear. And it really feels like that sometimes!
See, here is the hard truth: Obedience and righteousness will never come naturally. We can make a million excuses, some may even be valid, but in the end, we have to ask ourselves, will we choose to follow Christ or follow our hearts? Will we choose that which is righteous, even if it means it’s uncomfortable or difficult because God calls us to do it? Or will we choose ourselves over Christ?
We do not serve a God who doesn’t understand our struggle. Christ struggled with the same choices- to honor God or to honor self. And we can look to Him as our ultimate example because, though He had some impossibly hard choices to make, He made the right ones. He abandoned ease, esteem, and comfort to put our needs first. He humbled Himself beyond what was logical, deserved, or required to do what we could never do on our own.
So today, we all have a choice. Will we choose to obey, step outside of our comfort zone, abandon all the excuses, and be used by God? Or will we say no, missing the opportunity to be all and do all that the Lord has for us?
How is God calling you to obey today? It could be something small, but trust me, if God is asking it, it is never insignificant. As we tune our hearts to obey and posture ourselves to respond, God will move mightily through our obedience to do amazing things!
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Team Lead
End in Prayer
Hey God!
Obeying is sometimes really hard. I really want to honor you, but sometimes I really struggle. Lord, help me to choose what is right today. I ask that You would give me the strength to say “yes” to what You are calling me to do and let go of anything else. Please help me to be strong in Your strength and not my own, choosing to walk in Your footsteps of obedience. Thank You for being obedient even to the point of death. Thank You for redeeming me with Your obedience. I love you Jesus!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen!