Obeying to Death

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8 NASB)

Isn't it nice sometimes to compare ourselves with those who are worse than we are? Doesn't it make us feel good to know that when God compares us with certain other people, He must surely be more pleased with us than with them? I say this in jest, of course, but it can be a temptation at times to compare ourselves with other people and come to faulty conclusions about just how swell we are.

Well, Paul gives us some sobering food for thought in the above verse by showing that there really are varying levels of obedience, and Jesus (to whom we really ought to compare ourselves) obeyed to the uttermost.

It's interesting to note that Paul says the Son of God turned Himself into a man, and then humbled Himself. How? By being obedient. (Did you catch that? Of two things mentioned in this verse, becoming a man and being obedient, the obedience was singled out as the Son of God's act of humility.) And this wasn't just your garden variety obedience of "I'll obey until it becomes a little uncomfortable," so common among us, but being obedient to the point of death. And...not just obedient to some humane death like lethal injection, but one of the most horrific ways of dying ever dreamed up by men.

Compare yourself to that. (I did, and it royally smarted.)

We're all obedient somewhat. We all have an extent to which we'll cheerfully obey the commands of God. But much of what He calls us to is beyond that easy threshold, and crossing it into deeper obedience can be painful, or humiliating, or exhausting, or all this and more. But it bears much fruit in the long run, and not going there is defiance.

May God help us to obey like Jesus did, even if it means to the point of death.