I’d probably enjoy exercise more if it didn’t involve sweat, but there’s no way around it. You just have to do it. Obeying God is no different. God’s workout involves activity. Knowing God’s Word is not enough; we have to do it.
Don’t settle for knowledge rather than experience. Would you rather read about chocolate or experience it? Yeah, me, too. We can read God’s Word, but we won’t experience it until we do it. We need to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers:
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it (James 1:22-25).
The Bible is like a mirror that reflects our lives for us to see. A mirror shows us we need to straighten our hair, so we comb it. The Bible shows us that we need to straighten our lives, so we need to obey. Unfortunately, many times we walk away and completely forget (or ignore) what we learned in the Bible. However, if you do what it says, “God will bless you for doing it.” That makes it worth the sweat.
When God’s goodness comes out of every pore of our being (like sweat), obedience isn’t an act, but a natural way of living. That’s what we’re after.
This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.
Sweeter Than Chocolate 