Unfortunately, Christians often think of obedience as a test, and of course, obedience does test our hearts, but obedience is actually about wisdom. The old self was crucified with Christ at the Cross, and now in Union with the risen Lord, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Obedience is my response, not just to the will of God, but to the wisdom of God in any situation. Jesus lived His life on earth as the Son of Man, only doing those things He saw the Father doing , and only saying those things He heard the Father saying, and therefore, Jesus was living in the wisdom of the Father in every situation. He didn’t act out of His own wisdom, for He laid down His right to do that. In living that way, Jesus demonstrated to us what a fully surrendered life looked like, and because Jesus never questioned the wisdom of the Fathers direction, the Father was free to do His works through Jesus.
In the same way, our obedience postures us to participate in the life and story that Jesus wants to live through us, just as Jesus postured Himself, through His obedient trust in the wisdom of the Father, for the Father to live His life, and daily story through Him.
Obedience doesn’t earn blessing, because Jesus already earned every blessing for you, but obedience positions us to experience all the blessings that come from being a partaker of the divine nature, by keeping us in unity with the mind of Christ, who knows exactly how He wants things done. An example would be if Jesus is telling you to give up something, or to lay something down, even though what He is asking you to lay down may not in itself seem sinful; it’s not because He is trying to test you, though it may do that, but He is asking you to trust His wisdom. He wants to live His life through you, not your life through you, and He knows what He wants or doesn’t want to be be a part of His story, which always carries the fullest manifestation of blessing.
