Romans 12:1-2

When I think of living, I think of vibrant and on fire for a purpose. When I think of living in Christ, I think of passion and obedience to my Creator. Most of the time obedience is not necessarily seen in a good way. I catch myself thinking of obedience as forcing me to do something and if I don't obey there will be a consequence... which is definitely NOT the case with God. Consequences for our actions? Yes. God forcing us to be obedient? Not so much. That is a common perception of obedience in our society today. Sometimes we forget our God is a loving Father. He does not force us to do anything. He does not force us to be obedient to Him. God simply gives us the chance and the choice to obey Him and walk in His will. I often think of it this way: We always have a choice and if we choose to disobey God that is our choice. Anything that happens then, whether good or bad, can be seen as a result of our disobedience. It is as "simple" as that. There should be no pointing fingers at God because He did NOT cause us to see. (Galatians 2:17 sums that up nicely... as do many other verses in the Bible).

We live and we learn. We go through tough times, also known as testing, given by God so that we learn and grow and sooner or later we will hopefully understand that we are safe only in the will of God. The safest place for us to be is in the hand of God. We are safer following Him and walking hand in hand with Christ down His path than we are walking in the ways and temptations of this world. The world's ways are easier and for a short period of time they may seem more satisfying, but in the end we see the outcome (or consequences) of deliberately disobeying our Lord. It is our choosing to be disobedient to our Father and to go our own way because it "seems" more pleasant for the time being and may look like the easier path to travel. Classifying ourselves as Christians doesn't make everything hunky dory and nobody said that following God and walking with Christ would be easy. In many places in the Bible we are "warned" of the difficulties to come our way for choosing Christ. But there is love found at the end of that choice. Love and comfort from our Savior King can be found in obedience.
--------------------------------------
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
~*Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)*~