Whom Will You Follow?

Scripture Texts: Exodus 1; Acts 4:18-20; Acts 5:26-32

For as long as there has been the people of God there has been a battle between following the will of God versus the will of humanity. In Exodus, Pharaoh gives the command to kill all of the male Hebrew babies. The two midwives do not follow the command because they are more interested in following the will of God than the desires of Pharaoh.

By the time we get to Peter and James in the book of Acts the battle continues. Peter says it very clearly to the religious leaders, "Should we obey God or people?" To be clear the two are not mutually exclusive. There are times when the desires of God and the desires of humans match. The struggle is when they do not match.

A quick surf through the primetime television programs will reveal what is becoming the popular understanding of marriage in our culture. Without much of a critical eye many people begin to shape their marriage and relationships around the values espoused by writers and producers. A quick survey of the Scriptures reveals the images and values of marriage God invites us to are not the same as the ones our present culture invites us to. And so the battle continues today.

We have been told the values we hold for our marriage are old fashion. We have been told the values are oppressive. We have been told the values of our marriage are out of step with contemporary culture. As we look at the values we hold in marriage we see what God calls us to. Rather than look to culture and society to inform the values of our marriage, we turn to the pages of Scripture. This is an increasingly unpopular path, yet a path that we will not step away from. After all should we obey God or people?

We have noticed that people who choose to chase after a marriage built on a worldly model never reach a point of fulfillment in their marriage. There is always something more, something greater. At the same time we have experienced first hand the benefit of chasing after a marriage that God invites us to. We know that we have not experienced all there is to experience, and that God has more in store. At the same time, we have experienced great fulfillment in our marriage that we would not trade for anything the world has to offer.