“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 5:15; 14:7-9). What is the primary motive for Christian obedience? I posed this question to everyone who receives Thoughts to Ponder. Several responded. The answers given were interesting. However, none were surprising. The reasons given included fear, blessings, self-preservation, answered prayer, avoiding guilt, and gratitude. In fact, in one way or another, almost everyone reported gratitude to God for all He had done for them, as the primary motive for obedience. 

This is interesting. It is interesting because the Bible says very little, if anything, about gratitude being the primary motive for obedience. Consider the Hebrew children in the Old Testament. More often than not, they disobeyed God, despite all the good things God had done for them. However, the Bible never cites ingratitude as the reason for their disobedience. It was always their lack of faith. In Numbers 14:11, God asks, “How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed in their midst?” So then, if gratitude is not the primary motive for obedience, what is? Did you notice the interweaving of faith and grace in the passages from Romans at the beginning of this article? I believe the primary motive for Christian obedience, as taught in the Scriptures, is that of faith. In other words, I obey God because I believe God. Such thinking can be summed up this way: Do I really and truly believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He has said He will do? If the answer is yes, then by His grace, I will obey. If it is anything other than yes, then I will begin to struggle with my obedience and run the risk of disobedience. 

No matter how grateful I am for those things God has done for me in the past, if I do not believe Him for the future, then obedience is unlikely. The writer of Hebrews says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (11:6). Paul wrote that our introduction into grace was by faith with the result that we would hope in God. What is this hope? I believe it is faith in God for the fulfillment of His promises to us in His word. It is faith in God for the future, since the life we live will be lived in the future. All this can be wrapped up in the word hope. It is the essential role of hope that sustains us in our obedience to God, particularly when obedience to God might require me to go into some very dangerous situation and ultimately lay down my life.

I was working with the chapel youth group recently and posed a scenario where one might find himself or herself looking down the barrel of a gun, with a terrorist on the other end who says, “Reject Christ and live or profess Him and die.” My question was what would motivate you to profess Christ in that moment, knowing that doing so would probably result in your death? I was absolutely blown away by one young girl, who is only 14, spoke up and said, “Faith.” It was as simple as that. Not gratitude, not fear, not self-preservation, not guilt, but faith. Only one who really and truly believes that God is who He says He is and will do what He has said He will do, will be motivated by faith. Certainly there is a place for gratitude. But that gratitude should motivate us, not to obey, but to believe that the God who has shown us His grace in the past, will continue to show us His grace in the future. And that belief (faith) should motivate us to obey.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). No other Thoughts to Ponder has received as much response as one I wrote a couple of years ago entitled, “Time and Eternity.” The basis for that article was Paul’s admonishment in Ephesians 5:15-17: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” I want to consider the subject of time and eternity again from a different perspective. I want to consider the gift of life and what we do with that gift. 

Like time, life is a gift. In fact, life, in a sense, is an economic instrument within time. In other words, we can either spend our lives or invest them. We can either do with it as we desire or we can pour it out for Christ. Consider the words of Paul: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” What did he mean by those words? To put it simply, he means we are to seek to pour out our lives so that we will magnify Christ in both life and death. Paul was a man who had singleness of purpose – to so magnify Christ in his life and death that others would be swept into the kingdom. He sought to proclaim Christ where Christ was not known.

Are you pouring out your life for Christ or are you spending it on yourself? Consider these two true stories from “Don’t Waste Your Life,” by John Piper: In April 2000, two missionaries, Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards were killed in Cameroon, West Africa. Ruby was over eighty and Laura was pushing eighty. They were both medical doctors. One was single all her life, the other a widow. They both lived for one great thing: to pour it out in order to make Jesus Christ known. The brakes failed, the car went over a cliff, and they both were killed instantly. Then there is the story of a couple in the northeast who took early retirement from their jobs. He was 59, she was 51. Now they live in Florida, where they sail on their 30-foot yacht, play softball and collect shells. Now I ask you to consider which one of these two stories is a tragedy. Which one of these two stories is an example of pouring it out for Christ? Can you imagine getting all the way to the great Day of Judgment only to say, “Look, Lord. Isn’t my shell collection impressive?”

For whom are you living? I would encourage you to consider again the words of Paul: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Think about pouring your life out in such a way so as to magnify Jesus Christ in both your life and in your death. I remember when I was a child three of my friends from church made decisions to be missionaries. In recent years, after much prayer and wrestling with God, I have made the same decision. I was thinking about those three individuals recently. None of them are missionaries. In fact, as far as I can recall, none made any effort to even pursue such a calling. One married and moved away. One is living in grievous sin. One I have no idea about other than he’s not a missionary. Maybe you’re in a similar situation. You felt the call of God to go and proclaim Christ among the unreached only to allow the demands of life to distract you. Well, let me remind you of two things: (1) “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” and (2) “Make the most of your time.” We do not know how long we have left on this big blue ball in space. In fact, we don’t even have the promise of tomorrow. We only have today. Some reading this article have lived most of their lives, others have only just begun. Only God knows how much time each of us has left. Therefore, I encourage you to invest your life rather than spend it – to pour it out for Christ!