John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

I begin here because I see two principles of relationship. The first is a place in the relationship. Jesus declares He is the Son. The second is unity or agreement. The Father sees Jesus as His Son.

Roles in relationship are key in how you behave.

Now let me ask you the question that has been burning in my heart for hours now.

Who are you in relationship? How do you see yourself in relationship with our Triune God? Since they are One, I will not divide up the divinity for the purpose of leading you towards an answer. How do see yourself in this relationship?

The choices are many and I will not presume to be able to name them all. I just want you to be aware that your identity defines how you feel about this relationship you have been called to have with our Triune God.

In life we identify ourselves by what we do. I am an educator. I am a mechanic. I am a carpenter. I am a data analyst. If you look at all these identities you will find common threads; security, employment and compensation.

In this relationship with our God, are you a hireling? Do you have a title, security, and compensation? Do you even think in those terms? I am not a pastor so I do not take a salary. Should the pastor feel that way?

Much is said within our church community about service. Jesus was a servant and our best example of how a servant acts. Did Jesus see Himself as a servant?

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

The Father and the Son, being One, work together to accomplish one will.

John 15:10a If ye keep my commandments…

I understand that the standard interpretation of commandments is one associated with the Mosaic Law, the Levitical Law, the Talmud. I also know that we all failed to keep them. I also understand that Christ died to put an end to obedience of the law as the only means to righteousness. He did not change the law, He completed the law. Its goal had always been to convict us of sin.

So if we could not obey the law then, why should we think we can obey the law any better now? There is a clear and distinctive difference in the OT command and the NT command. That is in obedience by faith. Once we placed our faith in Christ and made Him our Lord, He has every right to give us specific commands, not just general orders.

Yes, we are to love God and love one another, but that is a general command and does not specify how to obey those orders. We learn that as we grow in Christ. What is obedience of faith and how does it differ from general commands?

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

By faith you will hear specific instructions. It might be anything at any moment for any number of reasons. We have the right to choose to obey or ignore. We still have free will. Since He is Lord and has the right to tell us specifically what to do, what are the consequences of ignoring His order?

If you are a good parent, how does it make you feel when your child says no to you? Do not gauge your reaction as it might not be the same as our perfect Lord. In general, we take another approach to obtain obedience. But God knew you were going to say no before you did. The lesson is for us to learn how it feels to be on the wrong side of opportunity.

Every specific order is an opportunity to glorify God.

How many of those will you miss before it starts to impact your relationship?