Walking the path

(3-minute read)

I asked God, “Lord, how much obedience do you want?” It took a while, but when the answer came, it was more involved than just complete, absolute, and total.

When I was a kid, my father expected obedience. In his case, it was complete, absolute, and total obedience. But it only covered what he said, and he didn’t say much. His orders for us kids were generally more like guardrails to protect us from doing something truly stupid.

When I was six or seven, the family went to a carnival. I was the youngest then, and my three older brothers said they wanted to go on this scary ride. It was like a Ferris wheel except that the seats were cages, and they flipped upside down and swung freely. Since I was a boy, I obviously couldn’t say I was too scared to go on the ride.

So, I said, “I want to ride in the bumper cars.” Although I couldn’t be sure how much, I knew what I wanted mattered.

Unfortunately, one of my brothers said, “We all like to ride the bumper cars. We can ride those when we finish the other ride.”

My mother knew me well and said, “There’s a ride I think Donnie and Freddie would really like. Why don’t you two boys go with your dad, and afterward, we will all ride the bumper cars.”

My dad said, “Let’s do that.” Being that it was my dad, the law had spoken; it was settled.

If I hadn’t said anything, I might have been stuck with some traumatic event, such as having to admit I was too afraid to go on the ride.

The Lord gave me a family, introducing me to obedience and flowing together with others. After I left home, the Lord gave me a wife. She was a girl, and that’s far more complicated than brothers, but it was a lot more fun.

Then came children. When I started making rules for the people I love, I finally understood the Lord a little better. The vast majority of rules were to keep my children safe. How much obedience did I want? Obviously, I wanted complete, absolute, and total. Very often, children don’t see the danger in what they do. Sometimes, they will think, How can this tiny little thing matter? Simple little acts can cause devastating consequences. If they were in trouble, I was in trouble. If they felt pain, I felt pain for them. We were in life together. The rules helped us flow together in life as a family.

As a kid, I didn’t always follow all my father’s rules. We had our problems, but I was always still family. I haven’t always followed the Lord’s rules as an adult, but I am still family.

Jesus said that he and the Father were one. He wanted us to be one with him so we all might be together. Like family, we are in life together, including the life to come. God gave us a family so that we might understand how to live life for more than ourselves. Obedience is a tool he gives us so that we might flow together with him.