Obedience Is Costly, Part Ii
Memory verse: Any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:33)
One of the most demanding adjustments to doing God’s will is deciding to obey even when obedience is costly to those around you. You, as well as those around you may have to pay a price for your obedience.
When Moses obeyed God, the workload of the children of Israel was increased, and the foremen were beaten. The Israelites paid a price for Moses to do God’s will.
When Jesus did the Father’s will and died on the cross, His mother had to suffer the agony of watching her Son be cruelly killed. Jesus’ obedience put Mary through a heartbreaking experience. His obedience brought fear and pain to the disciples. For Jesus to do God’s will, others had to suffer.
When Paul followed God’s will in preaching the gospel, others were led to respond to God’s work in their own lives. Jason and some others were arrested by a rioting mob and were accused of treason because of their association with Paul. Frequently, Paul’s obedience to God’s will endangered the lives of those who were with Him.
Hudson Taylor, a great man of prayer and faith, responded to God’s call to go to China as a missionary. Because his father had already died, he had to leave his widowed mother to go to China. By the end of his life in 1905, he had been used by God to found the China Inland Mission. There were 205 preaching stations, 849 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians—a testimony of a life absolutely surrendered to God. Hudson Taylor described something of the cost he and his mother experienced as he obeyed God’s will to go to China as a missionary:
My beloved, now sainted, mother had come to see me off from Liverpool. Never shall I forget that day, nor how she went with me into the little cabin that was to be my home for nearly six long months. With a mother’s loving hand, she smoothed the little bed. She sat by my side and joined me in the last hymn that we should sing together before the long parting. We knelt down, and she prayed—the last mother’s prayer I was to hear before starting for China. Then notice was given that we must separate, and we had to say good-bye, never expecting to meet on earth again.
For my sake she restrained her feelings as much as possible. We parted; and she went on shore, giving me her blessing! I stood alone on deck, and she followed the ship as we moved towards the dock gates. As we passed through the gates, and the separation really commenced, I shall never forget the cry of anguish wrung from that mother’s heart. It went through me like a knife. I never knew so fully, until then, what “God so loved the world” meant. And I am quite sure that my precious mother learned more of the love of God to the perishing in that hour than in all her life before.
Praise God, the number is increasing who are finding out the exceeding joys, the wondrous revelations of His mercies, vouchsafed to those who “follow Him,” and emptying themselves, leave all in obedience to His great commission.
Leaving home and family on a dangerous mission was a costly step for Hudson Taylor to take. His mother loved the Lord so much she was willing to pay the price of releasing her son to missions. Both of the Taylors had to pay a high cost for obedience. Yet they both experienced God’s love in a way they had never known before. History reveals that God rewarded the faithfulness of His servant Hudson Taylor. God used him in miraculous ways to reach interior China with the gospel of Christ. Like Hudson Taylor, your whole life should be lived with the attitude of “Lord, whatever You may ask of me today or in the future, my answer is yes!” Come to the place in your life where you are willing to surrender all to Him.
Final Thought
You must not overlook this element in knowing and doing the will of God: God will reveal His plans and purposes to you, but your obedience will impact you and others around you.