Our California children arrived late last night. Hooray. This afternoon in the midst of a real New England snowstorm we cut down our Christmas tree. It was perfect. The weather was perfect. The tree was perfect and the company was perfect. We put the tree in the garage to let the snow melt off before bringing it into the house. On the way out the door to go to the grocery store my wife asked me to make a fresh cut on the bottom of the tree. Now I must admit I was puzzled by this because we had just cut down the tree. I made a feeble objection but I knew better. While she was gone I made another fresh cut. My son started to clean up the sawdust. “No,” I explained. “Leave the evidence.” I was feeling smug. When she came home she pulled the car into the garage over top of the sawdust. Can you believe it? There was now no visible evidence to prove my compliance. So much for being a good guy.
Sometimes I obey God because I want His approval. That is really silly. If we have made Jesus our Lord we already have His approval. God doesn’t want our obedience so He can declare us “Good Guys.” He wants our obedience because obedience leads to the abundant life He desires for us. Being good brings its own rewards just as being bad ultimately brings grief. We actually leave evidence all over the place. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It’s very hard to hide the evidence when there are piles of it all around.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 23, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org