Dad #3 (Yes Sir)

It was always big in my house when we growing up to say yes sir or yes ma'am. Especially to my parents. Whether it was answering back when they called for us (my brother Roy and I) from downstairs, or when we were being disciplined. Yes ma'am and yes sir just became part of our lives. It was an immediate response. Their command and our response. After a while it just got second nature. We even got to the point where we would know how much correction and explanation we would dodge if we just acted like we were listening, acted like we were going to obey and said yes sir. There would always be that time though where our words would be lived out in an action. If our dad told us to do or not to do something and we responded yes sir and walked away those words would become meaningless if we then decided to disobey and do something different than we had agreed upon earlier. You see, saying yes sir and actually acting in obedience are two totally different things. Having this "yes sir" and then do whatever afterward mentality with my dad led specifically to the same attitude with God. Saying, "Yes God" is totally easy compared to actually living out what He has asked you to do. In Genesis 22 God tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his only son at Moriah. Abraham, says "yes sir" by getting up early the next morning and setting out on the journey. The crazy part is that it took 3 days to get there. Can you imagine how many times Abraham glanced at his only son, his beloved son on that 3 day trip and thought to himself......what am I doing? Imagine how Abraham cherished each smile from Isaac, each laugh. Imagine how many times Abraham thought about turning back around and going home. Sometimes I think I would have never left in the first place. You see Abraham not only said yes sir, but he walked in obedience in 3 of the most difficult days of his life, even when it didn't make sense.

Take some time to journal your thoughts about areas of your life where you say yes to God, but time, thought, distractions, and your own will get in the way. Journal about how your willingness with words changes quickly to disobedience with your steps. Ask God to give you the insight into the type of faith that Abraham walked in. How he went beyond his beliefs and into a demonstrative faith.