The Cost of Disobedience
The quiet joy of surrender silences the noise of self.
Devotional Credit: Immeasurably More
Photo Credit: Unsplash
In today’s reflection, Ray Stedman draws our attention to Jesus’ words in John 17, where He speaks to the Father about completing the work He was given to do. This moment of prayer precedes the cross, yet includes it—and far more. From His ministry of healing and mercy to the quiet obedience of His early years in Nazareth, every chapter of Christ’s life was marked by self-emptying love.
What glorified the Father was not merely Jesus’ actions, but His heart: always surrendered, always listening, always available. His obedience wasn’t performance—it was surrender. It was a life lived not for personal glory, but in glad submission to the Father’s will.
Too often, we confuse activity with obedience, imagining that simply showing up or checking off spiritual tasks earns divine approval. But God is not after religious exertion—He seeks yielded hearts.
The greater warning in this devotional is not about the “cost of discipleship,” but the cost of disobedience. We may resist yielding to Christ’s Lordship because we want our own way, but the toll is heavy: shame, unrest, fractured relationships, and spiritual pretense. When Self is still on the throne, we miss the very life Jesus invites us into. Only when our hearts echo Christ’s glad obedience do we truly glorify the Father.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I never asked you to impress Me with effort. I invited you to walk with Me in trust.
When My Son came into the world, He did not cling to the glory that was rightfully His. He laid it aside—not out of weakness, but as an act of love. From Nazareth to Gethsemane, from the carpenter’s bench to the cross, His life was a continual yes to Me. His obedience was not just in the great moments—it was in every ordinary day, every silent choice to abide, every whisper of “not My will, but Yours.”
I formed you for the same kind of life—a life where peace replaces performance and love replaces striving. But when your heart clings to your own glory, your own desires, you feel the friction. That unrest, that inner tension—it’s not your portion. You were made to walk freely with Me, not to drag the heavy chains of Self.
You say you want My will, yet often you want it only when it matches your own. But My will is not a burden—it is your freedom. To yield is not to lose, but to live. The price of holding on to Self is steep: unrest, regret, a shallow imitation of spiritual life. But when you surrender—even tremblingly—you step into the joy of communion.
Let the cross remind you: obedience is not loss, it is glory. In every moment you say yes to Me, I shine through you. My Spirit in you makes this possible, for it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.
Scriptures referenced: John 17:4–5, Philippians 2:5–8, Luke 22:42, Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:16, John 15:10
🧺 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like trying to sleep with a phone buzzing under your pillow all night. The constant alerts disrupt your rest, not because the phone is evil—but because you refused to silence it. That’s what living with unyielded Self is like. The noise of your own way keeps you from resting in His. But the moment you turn it off, peace returns.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You that You have not called me to impress You, but to abide in Christ who already glorified You perfectly. I rest today in the finished work of Your Son, and I rejoice that You are forming His obedience in me—not by my effort, but by Your Spirit. I trust that the life of Christ within me will overflow in willing surrender. Thank You that I do not walk in the cost of disobedience any longer—I walk in the freedom of glad obedience.