Obedience

Elijah is 17 months old now (wow!) and let's just say we have been hitting the obedience concept pretty hard with him. He completely understands the word "no" now and yet, it still blows my mind how often he chooses to ignore it. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty well-behaved little guy, but he likes to push the envelope and he can be a real rascal at times (try to picture that sweet angel of a child clothed in nothing but a diaper, standing on the dining room table and trying to knock over candles with a plastic golf club...that was my life yesterday).

I was told many times when I was pregnant with Elijah that God would use this child in my life to bring me to a greater understanding of His love, and I can not tell you how true that has been. And teaching Elijah to obey has made me realize how DISobedient I am at times. I see so many parallels to how he acts towards me and how I act towards God. Here's a few of things I'm learning. It's nothing profound...they're simple truths really...but they have been made so real to me lately through the process of disciplining my child.

-Obedience is possible. Elijah sometimes acts like what I'm asking of him is so unreasonable and so hard, and the truth is, it's not. He can do it. He is able to obey...he just has to make the choice to do so. I am the same way with God. I have a list of "buts" to everything he asks of me, but He's not asking me to do anything I'm not able to do...sure, it might not be preferable, it might not be fun, it might be hard, but it's doable.

-It really is for my own good. When I ask Elijah not to stick his finger in an outlet, or not to drink the lysol, or not to run into the street without holding my hand (and yes, he tries to do each of these things often), it's because I don't want him to get hurt. I am not trying to take away from the pleasure and enjoyment of his life...I am trying to add to it. In the same way, God disciplines me because He loves me...and because he knows better than I do.

-There is a great reward when we obey. Elijah loves to be praised. He claps for himself regularly. We do reward him and praise him for good behavior and guess what? It makes him more likely to obey the next time. Doesn't God do the same for us? The blessings we experience when we obey so far outweigh any momentary pleasure we would get from disobeying. And the more he showers those blessings and rewards, the more I want to follow.

So, as the song goes, Obedience really IS the very best way to show that we believe :).