“Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, a listening ear than the fat of rams. (I Samuel 15:22 Modern English Version)
Story One: As a lad, I was told to go out and cut the lawn and do the related yard work. We did not have a power mower, and the cyclical mower we used – it was borrowed from a neighbor. Obedient to my father, I went out and cut the little grass we had, most of the yard was just dirt, and I did some additional yard work. By some “additional yard work,” this is what I mean. I swept the sidewalk, and I returned the borrowed lawn mower to our neighbor. Then, thinking my work was completed, I went in the house, grabbed the one basketball we owned and went out to our homemade basketball court, a goal screwed into a piece of plywood and mounted on a pole that was standing in the yard when we moved in. My dad did not notice me because he was upstairs reading the evening paper. They had daily newspapers, back in the day. If we could not afford anything else, my dad had to have a newspaper. When dad came downstairs he asked my mother where I had gone. She told him I was in the backyard playing ball. Dad goes to the back door and yells through the screen door, “Mark, get in here!” If you are smart, you know that it is best to obey – your father. So, I came and stood before the father, and he said, “I’m not done with you yet.” He then explained that I had to pull the weeds along the fence. He went on to say, “Not giving your best, not trying to attain perfection, is not how we operate in this family.” Needless to say, I went out and continued my laboring as my father had told me. Obedience ranked high in the mind of my father. As a side note, the verse above says that our Heavenly Father delights in obedience over sacrifice.
Story Two: Centuries ago, based on his love for the world, God sent His only begotten Son to do some yard work. In other words, God sent Jesus to do complete some yard work, to clean up a dirty, degrading, dying world. You know the gospel in a nutshell, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him lave everlasting life (John 3:16).” Jesus had more yard work than I had as a lad. His work assignment supersedes anyone’s yard work for His yard work encompassed the entire world. As you know, as the Father gave His best, the Son would give His best too.
In the garden on the Mount of Olives, Jesus was in prayer with our heavenly Father, and he said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus recognized that He had to complete the yard work that the Father had given Him. He could have called a legion of angels to come to His rescue, but He did not. He completed His yard work, going all the way to Calvary where He shed His blood for our sins. He completed His yard work until He could say, “It is finished.” The yard work was complete and the work He did, in obedience to the Father, shedding His blood for the remission of our sins, is still cleaning up the world today!
You ought to help with the continuing yard word by telling somebody to come to Jesus, because He will cover the cost of your sins. He will clean you up! He will change you and create in you a new nature, to the point that they you say, “It is not I those lives, but it is the Christ that lives in me.” Now, with story time over, go out today and do your yard work. That yard work is to be Jesus witnesses, and to make disciples. Lives will be change when you obey, and the Lord and the hosts of heaven will be delighted. Have a wonderful Wednesday. Be blessed!
“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” (Form Hymn by Robert Lowry 1876)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King
These daily meditations can be found at markwritesdaily.com.