Have you ever “made a decision” at a week of Christian camp or in a week of revival meetings? What was your motivation to respond to the ministry of the Word of God by the convincing of the Holy Spirit?
Sometimes, I think, the motivation is for a removal of conviction or guilt. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come to the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy. The word mercy there implies a removal of the burden of guilt. Have you ever heard someone ask the Lord to not let a certain person have peace until they make things right with God? As someone has said, “There’s not a more miserable person in the world than a Christian outside of God’s will”.
At other times, I get the impression that some believers respond out of a sense that the Lord will “lower the boom” on them if they don’t obey. Certainly the Bible is clear that, according to Hebrews 12:5-11, God disciplines and corrects His children. Proverbs 1:7 declares that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The way to control the consequences is to make obedient choices. While we can’t change history, we can commit to letting God change us and control us through His Word now and in the future.
Reward often motives us to make Christ-honoring priorities. In Matthew 6 Jesus commands us to “lay up treasure in heaven” and to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” with the promise that, “all these things shall be added unto you”. Isn’t it great to live for a cause that will outlive our earthly lives, to invest in this temporal life toward an eternal treasure?!
I believe the underlying theme in all these motivations ought to be the first and greatest commandment. Jesus said in Matthew 22:40 that on the first and second great commandments hang all the law and prophets. If we miss the motivation of God’s love for us and our responsive love to Him, we miss foundational truth that will change us. Understanding that, according to I John 4:19, “we love Him because He first loved us”, we respond in obedient submission as a result of our love relationship with Christ. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”. As we walk daily with Christ, we will become more like Him, and what and who He loves we grow to love. As we understand more of Jesus’ love for us, we will more deeply desire to please Him and not disappoint Him. As a child I obeyed my Dad because I feared the rod, but as I grew into my teen years and understood more about my Dad’s love for me, and as we drew closer in our relationship I did things I knew would please my Dad. I also refrained from doing certain things because I knew it would disappoint Dad, would hurt his testimony, or could possibly limit his ministry influence. I made my share of sinful choices and didn’t serve the Lord as aggressively as I could have, but I made less wrong choices and made more right choices because of my relationship with my Dad. My close relationship with my Dad also influenced the way I responded to his corrective discipline. My relationship with my Heavenly Father should, to a much greater degree, influence my life in the same ways. May our relationship with the Living Word transform our response to the Written Word!
