Hebrews 13:17 IBS

Friday August 22, 2014

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

            Well this is something that all of us learn at a young age. Obey your parents, obey your teachers, obey your aunts and uncles, your grandparents, etc. All of the people above us, we are to be submissive to. I even would like to consider elders. They are the wise and we are to respect them. They know what they are doing, they’ve grown up and experienced things so that way we can learn from them and not make as many mistakes. I know I mentioned the government the other day, but Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” God appoints everyone in the place they are in for a reason. Our president is our president for a reason, our parents are our parents for a reason, etc. And we were born in this generation for a reason to learn and grow from the authority given, so we can later (God willing) be examples in the Lord for the youth.

            Obeying brings joy to our leaders/elders. If we don’t obey we bring grief and disappointment to them. When we are not minding the rules in place for us, we are making it unbeneficial for us. In the moment we may think the rules don’t make sense, but in the long run it is for our benefit. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have joy than grief in this sad, sad world, so just obey.

Application: So to remember to just obey and to keep the joy God intended for us, I will write submit on my hand.