Significance follows Obedience

No one ever accomplished anything significant for the Kingdom of God without obedience to the call of God on their life.

Let me be clear:  You can't earn your way to Jesus.  Their is nothing you can do to make God love you more... or love you less.  He loves you.  He doesn't love you more than someone else, or less.  He doesn't stop loving you if you mess up.  He doesn't love you more if you get something right.  He just loves you.

That being said, no one ever accomplished anything significant for God without obedience.  Obeying God is at the core of our faith.  How can you love Him if you won't obey Him?  The very first step of obedience for a believer is baptism but it shouldn't be the last.  Obedience is how we build trust in God, it's how we develop the spiritual muscle to trust Him in even greater ways, it's how we show Him love.

• Noah built a boat because He was obedient to the call of God on his life.
• Abraham left his home and the way of life that he knew and was obedient to God's call to go.
• Jonah was ultimately obedient, after some swift discipline and a whole city was saved.
• Moses went back to Egypt - where he surely thought he would be killed - out of obedience.
• Peter preached forgiveness and hope to a family that could have resulted in his death just for stepping foot in their house!  But he was obedient.  
• Jesus was obedient to death, even death on a cross.  

If you want to be significant in the Kingdom of God you've got to be obedient.

And obedience always starts out small.  It has to be learned.  Obedience has it's foundation in trust.  When I told my youngest son to jump off the top of a very large tractor at the State fair years ago he obeyed because he trusted that I would catch him.  That trust had to be developed over time and it started out with little things.

Here's a short personal quiz you can take to gauge your trust and obedience levels

Are you giving time to God each day?  Yes  -  No
To know God is to love Him and if you love Him you'll obey Him - It's hard to obey if you haven't built that relationship of trust.
Are you using your abilities and aptitudes for God's glory?  Yes  -  No
God gave you your gifts and abilities for His benefit and glory not just your own.  Obedience in this area means you use what He's given to benefit Him and not just your self.
Are you giving financially to God what He has asked you to give?  Yes  -  No 
I believe God asks us all to give 10% consistently, off the top.  But I know He also asks us to give more at times, above that, and sometimes, only the tithe, but always at least the tithe.

How did you do?

So many followers of Jesus dream of doing some significant thing for the Kingdom of God but if you aren't obeying in the less-significant areas of your life, how can God trust you to be faithful and obedient in the bigger things He may have for you?

Obedience doesn't earn you a place with God, but it does set you up to be used by Him in more significant ways.  Is there a place in your life where you aren't being obedient to God's call?  What steps are you taking/can you take to learn to obey and be ready for God when He's ready for you?

I'd love to hear about how God is using you - please comment!