Robert Kupferschmid was an
81-year old with no flying experience. However, due to a tragic emergency, he
was forced to fly an airplane. On June 17, 1998, he and his 52-year-old pilot
friend, Wesley Sickle, were flying from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana. During
the flight, the pilot slumped over and died at the controls. The Cessna 172
single-engine plane began to nose-dive and Kupferschmid grabbed the controls.
He got on the radio and pleaded for help. Nearby were two pilots who heard the
call. Mount Comfort was the closest airport, and the two pilots gave Kupferschmid
a steady stream of instructions of climbing, steering—and the scariest
part—landing.
The two experienced pilots
circled the runway three times before this somewhat frantic and totally
inexperienced pilot was ready to attempt the landing. Emergency vehicles were
called out and ready for what seemed like an approaching disaster. Witnesses
said the plane’s nose nudged the center line and bounced a few times before the
tail hit the ground. The Cessna ended up in a patch of soggy grass next to the
runway. Amazingly, Kupferschmid was not injured. This pilot listened and
followed those instructions as if his life depended on it—and it did.[1]
What if we obeyed God the
way that Mr. Kupferschmid obeyed his pilots? Have you ever noticed how much God
places a premium on obedience? The apostles John wrote, “And by this we know
that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I
know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in
him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected” (1
John 2:3-5).
Notice that John is not
saying that we keep God’s commands in order to be saved, but we keep God’s
commands because we are saved. We do not keep Christ’s commands to merit His
love; we keep His commands as an expression of love. We are not working to
salvation, but we are working from salvation.
There are three motives
for obedience. We can obey because we have to, because we need to, or because
we want to. A slave obeys because he has to. If he doesn’t obey, he will be
punished. An employee obeys because he needs to. He may not enjoy his work, but
he does what his boss asks so he can get a paycheck. However, a child who is in
a loving relationship with his/her father obeys because they want the approval
and blessing of the parent. This is the kind of motivation behind the
believer’s obedience. God’s commands are given with our best interest in mind,
so when we obey the commands of God we set ourselves up for blessing.
God doesn’t owe us an
explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait,
but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a
lifetime of reading theological volumes. In fact, you will never understand
some commands until you obey them first because obedience unlocks
understanding. Just look at the servants who filled the water pots at the
wedding in Cana. They didn’t know until later that Jesus was going to turn that
water into wine (John 2). That’s why the best advice ever given to anyone was
what Mary said to the servants at the wedding that day, “Whatever He [Jesus]
sayeth unto you, do it.”
Often we try to offer God
partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a
list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think
are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll attend church but I
won’t tithe. I’ll read my Bible but won’t forgive the person who hurt me. I
will pray for my neighbor’s salvation, but I won’t open my mouth and witness to
them about the Gospel. Yet partial obedience is still disobedience.
As a child of God you can
bring pleasure to your Heavenly Father through obedience. Any act of obedience
is also an act of worship. Why is obedience so pleasing to God? Because it
proves you really love him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my
commandments” (John 14:15).
-DM
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