Difficult Obedience

Pastor Bill Farrow

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Obedience is designed to, at times, be a bitter-sweet experience at best. David said that he would never offer anything to God that cost him nothing. This is because he knew that cheap or easy worship  was really not worthwhile worship at all.

The essence of worship is the yielding God that which He desires and requires. At times, that thing is a thing that otherwise would be very valuable and dear to us. We do not yield such things easily. Yet, if our worship is to be truly effectual then it may cost us something. And, this is the point, we must be willing to pay that price.

Very often, the price to be paid is one of abstention. That is, it is one of purity. For worship to be all that it should and can be, it must be offered from out of a pure vessel. First, of course, this purity is that which arises from belonging to Christ. This is the fundamental righteousness that commends us to God.

However, there is a secondary "kind" of righteousness that arises from the first and is essential to proper worship. This practical righteousness is a function of the first imputed and absolute righteousness. This is important to remember.