Obeying God...All of the Time

It never ceases to amaze me the way in which God chooses to teach me lessons. Today, it was through my black cat - Stewie: Doesn't he look innocent? Well after this story - you may not think so any more...

So I am making supper and Stewie keeps trying to drink my tea and I tell him NO. "No, you may not have any of my tea." This happened several times. A little later - I am sitting at my computer with my drink and I get up to go tell my son something. Well guess what happened? Yep - you guessed it - not only did Stewie get into my tea but he dumped it over... all over my desk.

I start cleaning up the mess. While I am cleaning the mess up, I am telling Stewie that when I tell him something I mean it and I want him to obey me ALL the time. The thought instantly came to my mind- like the Holy Spirit impressing it upon my mind, "I want you to obey me ALL of the time too" Wow- how many times have I read verses like - if you love me you will keep my commandments? I have realized that God wanted us to obey His laws, not out of meanness or anything but because God set up the Commandments - for our good.

"If you love Me, keep My commandments." John 14:15

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John 14:21

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." 1 John 2:3

I am going to post the Ten Commandments just for review.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)

1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

I think from now on - this little lesson will help me to remember how very important it is to God that I obey Him. I love Him and I want to show it; therefore, I will obey His commandments.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13