Journeys Through Life as a Child of God, "Why Should I Care What God Says?"

Why would a person care about what God says? To someone who does not believe in God this may seem like an irrelevant question. Why would a believer want to follow the wisdom and direction of the Lord of the universe? Conversely, for a child of God this question may seem obvious, or unusual. But, these questions are important for anyone facing the difficulties of life.

In January of this year, before Kathy and I left to visit family in Florida, I kept a promise to a woman who is a member of St. John. She wanted to ask me how a Christian should view and respond to government and to authorities, and wanted to discuss this dilemma with me. We spent about an hour looking at Scripture verses and discussing their meaning for our lives as children of God. I sensed that she was thankful for direction she received in response to her questions.

Life has always presented difficult challenges, challenges which can confuse us. We face many such difficulties today. For example, in these times of political division, the discussion I had with the lady from St. John about government can be a challenging issue. In addition, another difficult topic concerns the recent COVID pandemic. What should a Christian think about and how do we respond to this challenge? Another very current issue regards recent news that a possible landmark decision may be handed down by the Supreme Court in June concerning abortion laws. In each of these situations we might want to ask, “What should I think? What should a Christian do? How should a child of God respond? Why does my faith influence my decisions?”

However, before dealing with these specific issues, it is important to ask another question, a bigger question. “Who is Lord of my Life?” In other words, who controls what is right and wrong for me? Who is the guide and Shepherd for my decisions?

Christians have traditional believed that God is Lord or Ruler of our lives. Consider the lesson He teaches us in Psalm 24:1. “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” Because God made and created everything and everyone in the world, everything belongs to Him; we belong to Him. Because God is our Creator and Lord, we are to listen to and obey Him. That is our responsibility as people whom God made. To a certain extent, responsibility is the Old Testament perspective. Unfortunately, even though Christians believe that our lives belong to God, regretfully we do not always serve the Lord. We are selfish and sinful and we have failed Him, which just makes life more complicated.

However, because of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, we hear a different perspective for facing life’s difficult questions. Our Lord inspired Paul to write these words in 2 Corinthians 5:15. “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The Old Testament teaches us that we owe the Lord our lives because He creates us. In the New Testament God tells us that He loves us so much that, in spite of our sin, His son, Jesus, died and rose for us. God wants us serve and honor Him because we know His saving love. Our Lord does not want us to serve and obey Him out of coercion. He wants our hearts to desire to serve Him in thanks praise for the undeserved love and salvation He gives us.

Confirmation Day at St. John is May 22 this year. For years I have asked confirmation students to memorize 2 Corinthians 5:15, the verse quoted above. According to that verse, and others, the reason we listen to God, the reason we live for him, is out of love, love which begins with His undeserved love for us. The reason we listen to God, the reason we live for him, is because Jesus died for us. By the way, among those being confirmed this year is my oldest grandson, Jacob Rockey.

My devotions on Wednesday, May 11, included the following simple bedtime prayer, written by a Lutheran pastor from the 1800’s, Wilhelm Loehe. Notice how this prayer acknowledges that God loves us, and how the prayer asks our Lord’s help so that we do indeed live for Him, because of His He saving love. Here is the prayer.

Tired now, I go to rest,

Jesus, Savior, ever blest,

In Thy name I close mine eyes;

Watch Thou by me till I rise.

Thou my best and kindest friend

Thou wilt love me till the end!

Let me love Thee more and more,

Always better than before. Amen.

Why would a person care about what God says? Why would a believer want to follow the wisdom and direction of the Lord of the universe? These are questions we all should ask, whether we know it or not. I want confirmation students to know that we listen to God, we live for Him, because Jesus died for us, and because we love Him. And, I hope that Jake seeks to pray and live this prayer.

A Child of God, Thankful for the Guidance of God’s Love in Dealing with Life’s Questions, Pastor Jonathan