Obedience Releases Kingdom Life

John 9:6-7 (NIV) —

‘After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.’

If someone rubbed mud mixed with saliva on my eyes and then told me to go and wash off the 'poultice' in a nearby stream, I’d be pretty annoyed. After the shock of the mud application, I definitely wouldn't follow any more instructions they gave me! But Jesus is full of surprises. Look at the outcome for this man who was obedient to the rather unusual treatment from Jesus. He was healed. It's significant that, in this healing, Jesus gave the man a practical part to play but it involved unquestioning obedience.

When we realise we don't have to prove ourselves 'worthy' of being visible to Jesus and when we give up trying to understand the reasons behind the obstacles we face, we reach a place of desperate faith, asking for God to intervene, no matter the cost. We don’t care about being undignified or foolish if it means his Kingdom comes, in our lives and in the lives of those around us. 

'So the man went' we read. In simple, accepting faith. Has God cleared your spiritual eyes to see new paths, new purposes? Is he sending you somewhere, allowing you to cooperate with him in his healing plans? It might be next door; it might be the other side of the world!

Wherever your God-planned path is leading, God is giving you unique instructions to follow. He has 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you' (Jeremiah 29:11) For each of us there is the invitation to obediently follow those plans. When we wholly, intentionally put our trust in him, who knows what he will open our eyes to see? It will be good!

Prayer — God, whisper to me today the next step. I surrender my need for it to be attractive or make total sense, and I will go wherever you send me.