Obedience

"Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" - Romans 6:16

Obedience is a word that I have pondered heavily over the several months, and it is the basis for my first tattoo. It is also what seems most important to God, and it is more then outward obedience. It is obedience to the very core of a person, which I will say is extremely difficult to pursue. People seem to think that just outward obedience is all that is required, but why not let obedience permeate all the way to your heart so that righteousness is what you display. I use to think that faith was enough, and I would say that a fair majority churches teach that faith is all that is necessary. I ask the question: why do you simply want to believe in something life changing rather then have y0ur life changed. Why remain as a slave to sin, especially a sin cycle? It almost feels as if caught in a deep dark hole, and satan likes it that way. The only person that can pull you out of the whole is Jesus, and that is only because he has already been to the bottom of the whole himself. Jesus provided a great way to live, and it requires tremendous effort. God has given us a great gift through the bible as well so that we stand a chance at pursuing him, and having a better life. The call is to obedience! God gives numerous examples of what pure obedience looks like, as well as what the consequences of a lack of obedience. What obedience looks like for you is different then what it looks like for me.
God is whispering (in reality yelling) in the corner. I once heard that Jesus is like a man at a party. He is yelling in the corner, but there are so many people around that you stand no chance of hearing anything more then faint whispers to clear the room. The first step is to hear the voice, and believe that it is the most important noise in the room. Then it becomes a matter of clearing the room of all of the extraneous noise. This is the hard part, because in some ways you like some of the noises. This is the obedience part, and clearing the room becomes more and more important. In this world it is probably impossible to get the room completely clear of the noises, but with a mostly clear room you will be able to hear what Jesus has to say. Jesus can say what voices should stay, and which should be given the boot. So if you already have faith, why not be obedient? It might be hard, but it is better.
So after having a seemingly deep understanding of what obedience means to me, I thought it appropriate to a constant reminder of obedience. The better piece of the tattoo is that is mirrored, so that it is only read in a mirror, and that is why it was first. Obedience now describes what I want out of life. I deeply desire to be obedient to the calling of Christ, and I know that obedience to Christ will make every aspect of my life better. I think tattoos are a great reminder of our desires, and my next one will have as much value as my obedience reminder.