One Song and Soccer

     When I was in seventh or eighth grade, the boys elected to play soccer for recess one day. For some reason, most of the girls were not enthused. They complained bitterly that the boys never passed them the ball. They decided the whole lot were really nothing more than rather violent ball hogs who left the girls hobbling in with bruised ankles and flattened toes.
    One of the girls got the bright idea to ask the teacher if we girls could sing instead of play. The rest of us supported the idea and the teacher was approached with the request. He finally agreed. Sort of.
    "One song," he said, "and then you need to come out and play soccer." Being girls, it wasn't too difficult to manipulate that one song. 
    First, of course, we took a long time trying to find the perfect song. Then one of our number had a light bulb moment when she realized that if we sang only one verse of a song it didn't technically count as a whole song. The idea caught on quickly. We whiled away our time singing one verse of this song and one verse of that until our teacher finally came inside to see what was taking us so long. 
    Life has moved on. No longer are we trying to manipulate the word of a teacher. Now, looking at my own life, I wonder how often I try to manipulate the Word of God. It's incredible how devious our human minds can be when determined to find a way around the things we are unwilling for. We hope God will be happy with what we give, even though it's not exactly the thing for which He asked. 
    We do our best to ignore the guilty niggling that warns us we are trying to get by on an effort that doesn't really match the request. We make excuses for our choices, deciding our reasons are sound and logical, forgetting that faith doesn't go by what seems reasonable, but by obedience.
    John 14:15 tells us clearly If ye love me, keep my commandments. Have you, like me, found yourself being half-hearted with some of His commandments? It's easy to let myself by with having a grudge toward someone as long as I don't verbalize it. It's not difficult to use my time on the device in my hand instead of on my family and friends and Sunday School lesson. It's simple to come up with reasons why it's OK for me to buy this pair of shoes or that pair of sunglasses.
    Oh, I know what you are thinking. That sounds a lot like living by works instead of faith, doesn't it? And there is a balance. Perhaps it can be found in the key thought "If ye love me." Do we love Him? Do we love what He has done for us? Do we recognize the enormity of the gift of Salvation?
    Perhaps instead of groaning and struggling to throw away a book, delete an app, forgive a former friend, or let go of an anxiety, we should realize that doing these things is a tangible way of devoting our lives to God. No, it likely isn't going to be easy, but it does become possible when we take our eyes off ourselves and the pain it causes the flesh and focus instead on the joy our humble willingness can give the King.
    Manipulating songs during recess time didn't bring true happiness to any of us, though we may not have realized it at the time. There were feelings of guilt involved, the knowledge that although we were technically obedient, we had not truly submitted to authority. We did not understand our teacher's reasons or the fact that he was sincerely striving for what he felt was best for us. 
    Seventh and eighth graders sometimes feel like they know best, and so do Christians who have been in the service of the King for a few years. We don't see the harm in manipulating a few things in our favor. We forget the promise in Isaiah 1:19: If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.
    I want to learn to love Him more. I want to be humble enough to learn more of a willing obedience. And I want to learn to not only keep, but love His commandments. After all, Heaven is waiting.