Obedience

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 14:21

Nathaniel is now 19 months and has been participating in time out.  Why, you ask?  We were eating popcorn and I was letting him get the popcorn out of the bag himself and he kept trying to grab the bag away from me and I told him no and that mommy needed to hold the bag so that it wouldn't spill.  After I told him no, he yanked the bag hard and took it from me and as I went to grab it back from him, he looked at me and dumped the whole bag of popcorn onto the floor.  Of course he made a big mess and on to time out he went.

After the time out was over I hugged him and explained to him why it was important he obey and then he gave me a kiss on the cheek.  That was the sweetest thing ever! 

Then later I opened my Bible up and God showed me a few verses on obedience and I thought oh!!  That whole discipline thing with Nathaniel was God's way of flipping the mirror on me!  Hmm, Lord, you are so creative in teaching us lessons. 

I was having a rough day with my thoughts about food and not wanting to obey Him.  God was trying to hold the popcorn bag for me and I essentially yanked it from his hands and dumped it all over the floor.  After my time out in God's word he showed me that he loved me no matter what and that it is so much better when we obey.

 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.

 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

Psalm 119:33-35

It says when we obey and allow him to direct us we will find delight!  His word brings me endless delight, not the food in my pantry or in my fridge.

I think the next time I discipline Nathaniel I'll be looking to see how God could be using it for me too.