0:00:00 - 0:00:22 All right, we're gonna try hands-free car video. This is exciting. I put on my special hat just for this. Um I gotta run into town but thankfully, I'm not actually running because it's a long way. I have cycled into town before it takes a couple of hours. It takes more than a couple of hours. But anyway 0:00:22 - 0:00:55 , that was in a former time. So what I wanna talk to you about is obedience versus sacrifice. There are multiple times in the scriptures where the Lord says, I want obedience, not sacrifice. So what is that all about? I wanna tell you a story. It's a true story about gifts and cards. Um But maybe actually 0:00:55 - 0:01:21 I'll tell you, I'll tell you the story of Saul first which you probably already know. Stop me if you've heard this one. So uh Saul was going to war and he wanted Samuel to come and do sacrifices. And that's interesting um for various reasons, but it turns out that the order of things matters. And um 0:01:20 - 0:01:51 you should go to war if God commands you to go to war, but you shouldn't go to war and then try to get God to help you out one second. Oh, good. No meal. So Samuel says, ok, well, wait for me and I'll come and he intentionally takes his sweet time because he knows Saul is an impatient person. And it's 0:01:51 - 0:02:25 important to find out to realize when you're doing things for your own reasons and not because your motive is to seek and do the will of God. And so Saul is impatient and he does the sacrifice himself and then s Samuel comes and he said you did it now and um bad things happen. So now I'll tell you a 0:02:25 - 0:02:52 story about cards and presents. Um I don't like getting cards for my birthday. And the reason there are multiple reasons for this one. I think it's ridiculous to pay $6 or whatever it is these days uh for a card and this probably started growing up poor. My mom would always spend a lot of time picking 0:02:51 - 0:03:09 out just the right card, said just the right thing. And then I'd look at the back and I saw how much money it was and, and I knew she didn't have that much money. And I was, I was like, mom, why don't you just write me a note if you knew what you wanted it to say, why didn't you just write me a note 0:03:09 - 0:03:30 and then save the money? And um it's kind of like the good version of Judas saying, why couldn't this be sold and given to the poor. I was like, why didn't you just not buy this and keep the money? Because, you know, that would have made me happier. It's my birthday. Right. I can cry if I want to. And 0:03:29 - 0:04:01 , um, she always just bought the cards, she still buys the cards. She still buys them. So, in my own family, my nuclear family, I've asked my people to, to not give me cards, uh, to not go buy me cards and they comply with that request for which I'm grateful. And a lot of times they make me cards and 0:04:01 - 0:04:25 that means a lot more to me then going out and buying them and I save all of them. I have them all in a place in my house and I will write their name on it and the date. Um, so I, I can't forget. And, um, and actually what I'm doing in town today, amongst many other things, I cluster my reasons to go 0:04:25 - 0:04:53 to town. Um, but I have to get a picture frame for a painting that they, I told you about, which is, um, my, my one son painted this, which is amazing. He's, um, he's 13 now and I call him the owl because he anyway, I think I talked about it before. So he thought it'd be funny to paint a family of owls 0:04:52 - 0:05:13 and it is hilarious, but it's also really good painting. And, uh, I'm grateful to have that to remember. And think of him when I see it. So that's a, that's a wonderful thing. So I'm afraid of anyway. Um, he didn't give me a card, he just gave me that painting and it means a lot to me and sometimes I 0:05:13 - 0:05:35 get cards for my kids and, and those mean a lot to me when it reflects something about them and I can remember them by that. Ok. So, but one thing I have asked them to do more than once and I don't just repeat this nonstop because I'm very grateful for these other things that they give me. And I mean 0:05:35 - 0:05:59 , that's a great painting too. But, um, I have told them when they, when they can't think of something to give me for my birthday or Christmas or whatever, um, I've asked them when they say, what do you want? I, I say, you know what I really want, I want you to do something really nice for somebody and 0:05:59 - 0:06:22 not me. But I want you to think about someone in this house or someone else that you could do something really nice for. And the harder it is to do, the more it will mean to me, the better it is for them, the more it will mean to me. And if you can do it secretly without them knowing that's even better 0:06:22 - 0:07:00 . And what I want you to do is right down on a piece of paper and tell me what you did and that's what I want for the president. And, uh, that, that hasn't really happened and that's, that's unfortunate but they're still young and it can still happen. So, um, why, why do I say any of that? Well, it's 0:07:00 - 0:07:29 really weird but a lot of people, when they give gifts, they say it's about the person they're giving the gift to, but it's not, it's actually about them. And one way you can tell is how well this maps to what the person actually wants. Now, I'm trying to be careful in how I say that because sometimes 0:07:29 - 0:07:47 what the person actually wants is not what they would ask for. I saw a really interesting interview with a very famous music producer and I was scanning it at two X speed because I had a feeling he was gonna say something that would change my life. But most of the stuff he was saying would not, but I 0:07:47 - 0:08:12 found my nugget and there might have been more than one nugget. But the one nugget was the interviewer asked him, um how do you know what your audience wants? And he said, oh, I don't make music to give them what they want. And the interviewer was like, what are you talking about? You're a hit music 0:08:11 - 0:08:34 producer and you make hit songs for all these different genres of music. It's his claim to fame. It's Rick Rubin if you care. And um he said, no, the audience doesn't know what they want, they only know what they've heard before. Boy, did that hit me. It was reminiscent of something that Steve Jobs used 0:08:34 - 0:08:59 to say the customer doesn't know what they want, but it's the same idea because all they know is what's come before. If you want to innovate, you're in the space where no one's ever done it before. So, um, yeah, so when it comes to music, he's trying to anyway, you get the point. So if you give a gift 0:08:59 - 0:09:17 to someone and you know them so well that you actually know what they want more than they know what they want, then that's great. And that's a very valuable gift. But the person's going to agree with you, you're not gonna get like the wins when they open the gift and they're like, oh, shoot, what am 0:09:17 - 0:09:41 I gonna do with this? And they start, you get to see their level of acting skill. Oh, thank you or whatever. Right. Which I do not play that game. I played that game a lot as a small child. I felt guilty because my mom didn't have money for presents and uh not anymore. So that's one reason I'm very forward 0:09:40 - 0:00:00 with people in communicating. What I'm all about is that way. I don't have to fake it when they don't listen and they play their game of pretending that they're trying to be nice to me or whatever, but they're actually doing things that just make them feel good. So, um, you know, if I tell somebody, 0:00:00 - 0:10:18 hey, don't ever gift me clothes. It's just something I'm weird about. I had to wear clothes that didn't fit me growing up. And one of the things I really appreciate about life as an adult is that I get to, I get to find clothes that actually fit me and maybe they're expensive. Maybe they're not. I bought 0:10:18 - 0:10:38 this shirt as a, at a thrift store and that for a really long time. I haven't retired it yet. Um But it's not about the money. It's just I get to pick stuff and I don't have to wear something that I don't like. Uh because I'm just trying to make somebody feel good. So um I don't do that anymore. I don't 0:10:37 - 0:11:07 , I'm not interested in being held hostage emotionally so that other people can live in their delusions. Um Reality just is what it is and it helps everybody if we all just do that, that is what benefits everyone the most. So, um yeah, so don't give me a shirt um trying to pass through some stuff there 0:11:06 - 0:11:33 instead of just drawing on about that. So with gifts, if you actually care about the person and you will just give them what they want right now, let me ask you who do you think cares about their Children more than anyone else? You me or God. And the answer of course, is God, there is no limit to the 0:11:33 - 0:12:02 love of God. There is no limit to the amount He will pay for your and my benefit. If it's possible, he will do it and all things are possible with God. So there you go. Well, this is, this is a surprisingly deep topic and I won't get into the depth here, but suffice it to say He gives you what you want 0:12:01 - 0:00:00 . That is also good. That's, it's two, it's a Venn diagram because what you want is probably not good. It's not what he would want. If he were in your shoes. Now, you're in a good place. If you can say as far as I understand him to be, it is what he would want. But it's still not what he would want. 0:00:00 - 0:12:43 But if you can say that that's a great thing to say, most people aren't even there. They say no, I want what I want and what God wants. Well, that's what he wants, but this is what I want. We're like Farook as Salt and uh Willy Wonka and we say I want it all. I want it right now. This is what I want 0:12:42 - 0:13:11 . Gimme, gimme, gimme. And if we were smart, we'd say father, what do you want? Not even what should I want. That's like level two, what should I want. But the best thing we can do is just say, Father, what do you want? So tell me so I can do what you want So what does this have to do with obedience 0:13:10 - 0:13:36 and sacrifice if you ask God what he wants? Do you know what his answer will be? Well, you don't, if you're asking because you wouldn't have to ask if you knew, but sidestepping to whatever specific fulfillment there might be, I'll tell you what his answer will be predicated upon. He will tell you whatever 0:13:36 - 0:14:13 it is that will bring you the most joy. And if that doesn't, if that doesn't get right into your heart, it doesn't hit you hard. I don't know. What will when my kids ask me, what do I want for my birthday? Uh I tell them whatever thing I can think of that would give them the most joy. Why? Because I 0:14:13 - 0:14:46 love my Children more than I love myself. And the full expression of that relationship is not just preferring their benefit to mine. It is denominating my benefit in them. I made a video this morning where I said I read the scripture from. It was a Psalm where it says that um that those who are faithful 0:14:45 - 0:15:13 to the Lord are his inheritance. And doesn't that sound backwards that so we think, you know, he's a king. He has everything. We're gonna get our inheritance from him. True, true. But he is who he is and how he is because he denominates his inheritance in us. That's how good he is. That's how good he 0:15:12 - 0:15:52 is. And that is why you can't glorify God if you remain a bum because He wants you to improve. Because joy comes from who you are and the more like Him, you are, the more joy you will have and you can't be like Him and be above. So it's all focused on our benefit, all of it. So why is he so uptight about 0:15:52 - 0:16:19 obedience rather than sacrifice? Let me tell you another story. Uh When I got married 14 years ago, we had voluntarily, my wife and I were already working and making money. Oh, and we decided that I was going to go back to school and become a professor. We, we thought that would be a way where I could 0:16:19 - 0:16:39 help a lot more people. Uh, because I wouldn't just be sitting in a cubicle writing code and there might be opportunities to be in a place where we'd have a little more time as a family and I'd have more time for ministry, whatever that looked like, but I'd have time to dedicate to the benefit of other 0:16:39 - 0:17:04 people and not just punching the clock to work. So it was a daunting challenge. It was a huge, it was a huge sacrifice. Very hard, not just monetarily or giving up our jobs where we were making decent money, but, um, very good money, in fact, for where I came from. But, um, it, it was really hard too 0:17:04 - 0:17:34 . I didn't, I didn't know that I would be able to be successful in a phd program. Um, so, um, anyway, we did it and for a wedding, for a wedding, we had a gift registry, which is a normal thing, but we were poor and we didn't have anything for our apartment. And so we, we were both living on very little 0:17:33 - 0:17:57 just living very frugally, uh, because we didn't care about all that. But moving out of your apartment with your roommates, you need stuff like plates and toilet bowl cleaners and just normal stuff, shower curtain. And so we made our gift registry on Walmart dot com and it just had normal household stuff 0:17:56 - 0:18:15 and I mean, we would have put groceries on there, but that was pushing the envelope too much, the social expectation and most of our guests were, were really cool about that and they just got the stuff that was on the registry and there was nothing fancy about it. It was like the great value toilet brush 0:18:14 - 0:18:42 wedding gift. So, um, this one lady came to our reception and uh, she was so excited and she says I can't wait until you guys open my present. And we said, well, thank you so much, you know, we really appreciate it. And she said, yeah, I didn't get anything on your list and we're like, ok, and she's 0:18:42 - 0:19:05 like, I got something really expensive and then it was really awkward and then, um, she told us what she got us. So I guess she got to see what our reaction would be or whatever. And it was this really expensive thing that I don't want to be too specific here, but it was an object for the kitchen. It 0:19:05 - 0:19:27 wasn't an appliance or anything. It was just a really fancy expensive version of something that's really simple. And we didn't have the simple thing and it was like, probably 20 times or more, more expensive than the simple thing. And I was thinking about all the stuff on the registry that that could 0:19:26 - 0:19:51 have bought instead. And I was like, what is this lady's deal? And she got so much joy out of the thought that she got this fancy thing that I guess she thought we would want more than what we actually asked for. But our motive and what we were asking for was so that we could actually, you know, have 0:19:50 - 0:20:18 a clean toilet or, or plates to eat off of or whatever, you know, ways to grab pans out of the oven without burning our hands. And uh we would just go to Goodwill or whatever to pick up what, what wasn't purchased off, off the registry. And we're just like, why? Well, that is what it's like when we give 0:20:17 - 0:20:42 God sacrifice instead of obedience. Now, you might be thinking, but doesn't God ask for sacrifices? Oh, yes, he does. Oh, yes, he does. But he prescribes it. He prescribes it and there are free will offerings. Sure. But those are in addition to not in lieu of there's a big difference. So you can't skip 0:20:42 - 0:21:05 all the stuff he tells you to do or do all the stuff he tells you not to do and then do something instead and say like, yeah, but you know, I killed a guy but look what I did. I, I did this extra thing too. Doesn't that cancel out? No, it doesn't. It does. Why? Because he never asks you to do something 0:21:04 - 0:21:32 arbitrary. Never. It's all cause and effect cause and effect. And if you skip out on or modify or reject or replace one of the causes, guess what? You also skip out on modify or replace the connected effects. Everything he asks of you is for your greatest benefit. Therefore, if you do anything differently 0:21:31 - 0:21:54 , you do not have the greatest benefit. You're cutting off your own legs. Why would you do that? It's very silly. And the answer is the only people who do that are the ones who don't believe God really? And you know, obviously they don't love him, but they also don't love themselves. And that's just 0:21:54 - 0:22:15 weird. Right? So now what do we do with this thing that this lady gave us? We still have it and it cracks me up every time I see it. My wife, well, I'm not going to say we laugh. That's an overstatement. But you know, on the inside, at least I'm chuckling. I don't know what she's doing. But I'm chuckling 0:22:15 - 0:22:41 on the inside at least. And it's a good thing. It's a solid thing. It'll, it'll, we'll pass it down to our kids or use it, you know, melt it down and, well, I just revealed it's metal, I guess anyway. But, um, when we give things to God that he doesn't ask for or that are different than what he asks 0:22:41 - 0:23:21 for, he can still use it. But it's never gonna be as good as the thing he asked for. That's the point. That's the point. Ok, so what does he ask for? Are you ready? He asks us to love others as he loves us. But that doesn't even tell the full story. He says, as I have loved you love one another. In other 0:23:20 - 0:23:54 words, he's so merciful that he doesn't say love all people as I love all people. It's in past tense because he's saying, well, we'll get there. But all I want you to do is just do what you know, as you as far as you already know how I love people because you have received that from me. That's what I 0:23:54 - 0:24:23 want you to do for other people. All he's saying is pay it forward. That's it. That's the gift we give to God. Pay it forward. Put another way. He gives us money in our birthday card, said I didn't like cards, but he gives us money in our birthday card. And he says, just give the same money to someone 0:24:23 - 0:24:50 else. That's my present when it's time for my birthday, just give this money to someone else. So, what's the money? It's your time. It's your talents. It's your resources. It's your mind, it's your heart, it's your arms, it's your legs, it's your voice. It's whatever you're capable of. And we have to 0:24:50 - 0:25:26 express ourselves as he has to us. So he focused his entire life on our benefit. He laid down his life for our sake and we lay down our lives for the sake of others. And that's the gift he's asked us for. That's the obedience. He's asked us for love, God with all of your heart, might mind and strength 0:25:26 - 0:25:51 and love your fellow men as I have loved you. That's it. That's everything, it takes everything to do that. But that's what he asked for from us. So that's, those are some thoughts on obedience, not sacrifice.