Willful Disobedience
June 18th, 2010By: Gina Hendrix
The original sin. One that is within each of us, to all our dismay, the very one that can be tracked back to Adam himself – is alive and well.
Let me tell you a story. It started with a question from my husband, “What do you suppose ‘the sin of the world’ means as it appears in the Gospel of John?” (The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. – John 1:29) My first reaction was “prideful disobedience”. He reacted with a ‘Hmmmm, okay”.
Of course we could not let that just hang in the air. A lively discussion soon followed. I lovingly refer to these conversations as ‘talking God’. We started first with the definition of sin, which is ‘a transgression of the law’. So, the ’sin of the world’ is a transgression of the law. But what exactly was transgressed? My ADD mind took off in all directions pondering what exactly is willful disobedience.
In the garden, Eve was beguiled by the serpent. Adam was not beguiled. Adam took of the fruit in ‘willful disobedience’. Unlike Eve, Adam knew his one and only instruction from God (But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die – Gen2:17), and willfully disobeyed. So, ‘the sin of the world’ can be factored down to one description – ‘willful disobedience’.
After our discussion, I continued to ponder sin and track it back to willful disobedience. It is said that once the Lord reveals something to you, a trial is soon to follow. This, of course, is to determine if you truly did learn what was revealed.
Sure enough, the next day I was presented with a choice to either willfully disobey or not. Or, perhaps it was that my senses were now keenly aware of this ‘willful disobedient’ thing and I was sensitive to every new occurance of it.
What happened? What were these opportunities I faced that caused me to consider willful disobedience? Two things, two times when I really wanted something and was denied the thing in obedience to God.
The first time was the next day. My favorite author had just released a new novel, one I anxiously awaited. This author was my favorite because I had held him in high regard for some time specifically because he was a christian fiction author who chose NOT to use profanity in his work.
You see, I am allergic to profanity. If I allow myself to hear or read it, that same profanity will break out in my conversations like a poison oak reaction.
I was getting into this novel, great story, great writing – then, I read profanity. At first, I looked over it and thought, it is not so bad, not a big deal. When I read the profanity the second time, I realized that if I continued reading this novel, I would be in willful disobedience.
And then, of course, I got mad.
Who was I mad at? The author, nope – if he was a believer, God knows how to deal with his children. My behavior, nope – I had stopped reading the book, I was being obedient. God, yep – I was mad because I really, really wanted to read this novel, but God wouldn’t let me.
The next trial came at home that evening. I was home from my day job, all my household chores were done, and was looking forward to working on the computer (perhaps even blogging this great revelation), and my husband wanted to talk.
Strange, huh? But not just talk. He wanted to talk God – my favorite subject.
I found myself distracted because I didn’t want to engage in the conversation. I wanted to empty my mind and blast away at the author, but something inside me said ’submit to your husband and listen’. Again, it was my own prideful willful disobedience rearing its ugly head.
If I can take any solace in this recent revelation and the exams that followed, it is this – that I am not alone in encountering these new things about God. I am not his only child. And suddenly, my mind goes back to the Psalms 119:71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes”.
Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com
Gina Hendrix is a Freelance Writer and Book Reviewer. She reviews for several Christian Publishers as well as Christian Authors. To learn more about The Vessel Project, please visit vesselproject.wordpress.com This article can be reproduced and distributed without royalty provided proper reference is made to the Author and her website.
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