Adventures in Wonderland, #7

Review with me a minute – where are we going with all this?

Theme passage: 

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have refuge.  The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.

Proverbs 14:26, 27

The Goal:  To walk through door into a land of Wonder (AKA: the Abundant Christian Life).  A door that invites us through to strong confidence, security, freedom from fear, joy, satisfaction, contentment, merriment, wisdom to escape the traps the enemy sets out for me, and, best of all, sweet intimacy with my Savior.

The Bad News:  The door is locked.

The Good News:  There’s a key:  Fear of the Lord.

The Bad News:  Everything’s in opposite order.  To be able to use the key, God must be HUGE in my mind.  Instead, I am HUGE in my mind.  When I am big (or, other people or things are) and God is small, pride, idolatry, and unbelief get in the way.

The Good News:  There’s a bottle on the table that instructs, “Drink Me.”  If I drink, everything reverses in right order.  God is the right SIZE, and I can properly fear Him. 

Well, what am I waiting for, Alice?  Take a swig!  But remember, I’m the one who needs to know what’s in that drink… I’m not going to take too big of a risk.  That’s where Alice and I differ, and this is exactly what I’m exploring right now.  Exactly what is in that bottle?

Humility.  Check.

Submission.  Check.Check.

There’s one more ingredient…and, this one causes almost all of us to hesitate at one time, or another.  It’s the bittersweet taste of obedience.

The three ingredients form a chain.  You can’t have one without the other.  Humility (seeing/knowing God and seeing/knowing myself as He sees me) draws me to submission.  Submission sets me in the proper frame of mind for obedience.  Obedience is easy once the other two have been wrestled to the ground.  With confidence, I can say humility and submission lead directly to obedience without hesitation.  When my kids were little, I was famous for saying, “If it’s not quick obedience, it’s not obedience.”  Sometimes, I wonder if God thinks that way about us.  However, without an attitude of humility and submission, our obedience will be anything but quick.

There’s a great story in the Scriptures that illustrate this point.  The story is found in 1 Samuel 15.  It’s well worth the read, and pondering over.  How about spending the week reading this narrative, taking some notes, and next week we’ll compare thoughts?  I guarantee one thing: there’s a former king, named Saul, who sure wishes he’d taken heed to the principle being presented:  Fully drinking the cup of God’s Will surely opens the a door to a grand adventure in a Kingdom called Wonderland.