Jesus is our brother, the one who goes ahead. He shows us how to walk the road of life today. One of the most important lessons we can learn is that Jesus obeyed God 100% and carried out God’s instructions to Him exactly.

It was extremely hard for Jesus to walk the Via Dolorosa. At one stage He wanted to take a short cut, but eventually persevered and walked that hard road to the end.

⁸Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do.

Jesus obviously knew what obedience was. But living as a human being here on earth gave Him personal experience of what it is like. He knows how difficult it is to be obedient, to struggle along the road until the end.

The cup Jesus had to drink was very terrible. It was so terrible that at one stage He asked God if the cup could pass Him by. But Jesus held on and as a result, every sinner can have a fairy tale ending.

There’s a lot of hardship here on earth. Things don’t go as we would like them to. And it is often when things are hard that we want to implement the cheaper plans that might not be completely pure.

My friend’s business was struggling. They’ve reached the end and he was at the point of closing the doors behind him. Someone slipped in and offered him a huge contract that would save his business and take it to the next level.

He could have the contract right then, but he would have to employ the client’s sister. Not an easy decision. The contract would cover him and the sister’s appointment, but was it the right thing to do?

My friend struggled with this question for some time and eventually did not accept the contract, because he believed it would be dishonest. Going through this struggle taught my friend what it meant to be really obedient and to live within God’s prescriptions.

God often uses our circumstances to shape us. Hardship tests whether our faith is true. Do we remain faithful when the pressure drives us to tears?

I want to encourage you to remain obedient in all circumstances. Even if life is putting so much pressure on you that you feel like bursting, remain obedient. Then God is on our side. Or rather, we’re on God’s side. Then we keep close to Him so that He can help us through the hardship. If we’re disobedient, we cut off God’s hands wanting to reach out and help us.

Let’s make a point of doing the small things as well as the major things exactly as God leads us to.

Scripture
Hebrews 5:7-10

Reflection
Do you learn from your struggles?
Where do you have to work on your obedience?
Where do you need God to help you?

Prayer
Father, it’s not easy to remain obedient in all situations. I want to be more obedient; I want to act more in the way that You want me to. Please help me learn diligently to be more obedient. In Jesus’ Name, amen.