Lilly: Hi.
Dodger: We're glad you're here. But before we start anything else, maybe I had better tell you a little bit about myself and Lilly. We may look like someone or something you've seen before. Well, that's because we're both Pac-Man's. If you've played that game, you know we like to eat.
Lilly: A lot.
Dodger: That's true. But there's more you should know about us. We love God.
Lilly: In fact, we love Him a good deal.
Dodger: Yep. We're proud of that, too.
Lilly: But we don't love just any God. We serve the God of the universe, and His name is Jesus.
Dodger: Right. So that's who here for. It's for Him, and Him alone. You hopefully know who Jesus is, but if you don't, take a look at the book of John in the Bible. It's good reading. In fact, while you're at it, just read the whole Bible.
Lilly: It's time to talk about our subject now.
Dodger: Oh yeah. Well, then, without further ado, I will announce the subject to you. The topic of the day is...
Lilly: That's cool. How did you do that?
Dodger: Special effects.
Lilly: Oh.
Dodger: So Lilly, can you tell me what obedience is?
Lilly: Well, dictionary.com defines obedience as the "act or practice of obeying; dutiful or submissive compliance".
Dodger: Well, that's nice, but actually I just wanted your definition.
Lilly: Oh. In that case, obedience is doing what you're told to do, even when it can be difficult, or you don't feel like it.
Dodger: That's a good definition. We'll use your definition for today.
Lilly: There are some questions everyone probably has about obedience.
Dodger: I'll say. Take this one from Thomas McCat. "Dear D&L, what is the point of obedience? Why must I obey my parents, for example?"
Lilly: That's a good question.
Dodger: Yeah. Well, I think I have a pretty good answer. You obey your parents so you don't get grounded!
Lilly: No, Dodger, that's not why!
Dodger: Oh. What is it then?
Lilly: As it turns out Dodger, actually there are two reasons. The first reason is our own good.
Dodger: What do you mean?
Lilly: Well, our parents tell us what to do for our own good. Here's what I mean. Let's say you're walking in the woods, and you see a luscious red berry. What you don't know is that the berry is inedible, and will make you sick if you snack on it. Your Mom tells you not to eat it. She doesn't explain why. Now you have two choices: take the berry and chomp on it, or leave it be.
Dodger: I think I get it. The wise choice would be to leave it alone, because you would get sick. But you can choose both ways. Your Mom attempts to protect you by telling you not to eat the berry, but only you can choose to be protected by obeying her.
Lilly: Exactly. Did you notice though, that in our story the Mom did not tell you why not to eat the berry? She only said "no". In the same way, we don't always have our parents explain why they tell us to do something, but we can trust their judgement.
Dodger: I see. But that brings me to a new question. In the case of the berry, we can see an actual reason to obey Mom. But what about obeying over things that seem unnecessary? Take making my bed, for instance. Mom tells me to do this, but even if I think real hard about it, I can't think of any reason why. I'm just going to mess it up again anyway.
Lilly: There are two reasons, actually. One is that making your bed makes your room look neat. But the other more important one is that God tells us to do what our parents tell us to do.
Dodger: Huh?
Lilly: Well, in the Bible it says in Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you."
Dodger: Can you break that down?
Lilly: It means we're to honor our parents, which means obeying what they tell us, respecting them, and treating them right. When we do this, we're glorifying God, which pleases Him, and did you notice the promise at the end of the verse? It promises us a long life in the land that God gives us. Neat huh?
Dodger: So then, to break it down, we obey our parents for our own good, and to please God by obeying what He commands us.
Lilly: Exactly!!!
Dodger: That's pretty cool. So is there anyone else we're supposed to obey?
Lilly: Actually yes, there is. God tells us to obey all authority over us in 1 Peter 2:13. He says,"Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men..." This means our government, our principal, even our sports coach!
Dodger: I see. Well, I have one more question for today's topic. This one comes from Mr. Popsicle. It says, "Dear D&L, do I obey all authority over me at all times?"
Lilly: The answer to that is yes, with one exception.
Dodger: What exception?
Lilly: Well, the exception is that you shouldn't obey those who tell you to do something against God's word, for example, if your P.E. coach told you to start stealing cookies from your parents. The Bible says in Exodus 20:15 "Thou shalt not steal." If that happens, you can disobey your P.E. coach, because he's telling you to do something that's wrong in God's sight.
Dodger: In other words, obedience to God is more important than obedience to anyone else.
Lilly: Right.
Dodger: Well, as it turns out, we're just about out of time.
Lilly: Yeah, you're right.
Dodger: I guess in that case we should wrap it up. Thanks for reading this, and please feel free to join us next time! Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: Goodbye!!
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