Is Your Trust Strong Enough to Produce Obedience?

Trust is a strange thing.  It must be earned and sustained.  We tend to be flippant about it, though, and we say we trust things that we don’t really trust.  I have read a variety of studies that claim that trust in our iconic leaders has eroded to historic lows.  We tend to question everything that has responsibility, but we rarely question the person looking back from our mirror.

Over the last few months, I have had a variety of conversations with people who would say that they that they trust Jesus with their souls, their eternity.  They will gladly claim Christ as a Savior, sing songs, and pray.  But the real question that defines the relationship is simple:  “Is your trust strong enough to produce obedience?”

Jesus gave plenty of instructions in his 3 years of ministry.  He called the disciples to adopt a trust so great that they “followed’ and time after time he called them to obedience.  Followers of Jesus around the world equate discipleship with obedience.  Why don’t we?  I think that we tend to abhor commitment, but we love benefits.  That permeates our culture.  “Something for nothing” is the pipe dream we chase in myriad ways.

But Jesus came to give us bigger life and He called us to trust Him with our whole life.  We say “yes” with our lips readily.  But is that trust really strong enough that it produces obedience?  If it isn’t, it’s time to rethink our paradigm for faith.  After reading through the New Testament again this spring, it is crystal clear to me: JESUS’ idea of faith produces our obedience.  Why?  Because He is that trust-worthy!

Why would I not follow His lead?