At Fifteen years old, I surrendered my life to Christ, and was made alive. As Scripture teaches, I was born again to a living hope. God gave me a new start, forgiving all my sins and putting a hope in my heart of everlasting life with God in fullness of joy. He set me on a trajectory of transformation that is rooted in obeying His voice.

Early on, I discovered a verse from the Bible from a Stephen Curtis Chapman song entitled, “The Great Adventure.” The lyrics in the bridge of that song helped me to understand an important truth as a teenager what we will experience as Christians:

“We'll travel over, over mountains so high We'll go through valleys below Still through it all we'll find that This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams” (The Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman).

This song and the scriptures that inspired it opened my eyes to see the Christian life was one of adventure and surprise; one of mountain tops and valleys. Through it all, the life in pursuit of Christ Jesus would be worth the cost of every loss, the surrender of temporary treasures and pleasures. I was discovering: to die to self and to live for Him is reasonable and right; to know His will and what pleases Him is the aim and goal; to listen to His voice and obey His will is the abundant life of purpose in God.

He loved me and was calling me to listen to His voice and follow Him into the greatest adventure the human heart could every experience. I learned that God wanted me, loved me and had a plan for my life. So, I ran to Him to receive this abundant life from Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who promised to lead me in paths of righteousness for the glory of God and my eternal good.

A passage of scripture that inspired this song comes from John chapter ten:

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, ESV)

The first part of this verse teaches us we have a real enemy—the devil—and he is a thief, a murderer, and a destroyer. The Bible warns us that the enemy uses our own passions and lusts to tempt us away from the goodness of God. Our sins have separated us from God. Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil (the kidnapper, killer, and molester of mankind) and deliver us from the devil’s domain of darkness and transfers us to God, bringing us into His glorious Kingdom.

Now notice the last part of this verse. Jesus came so that we would be delivered from the enemy and would now follow Him and enjoy true life in Him: a life of abundance, a life of joy and peace, one that embraces obedience to Him, denying ourselves, and also embracing the reality that, in this fallen world, following Jesus means there will be difficulties, but He is with us through them all.

Now, notice a few verses later in John 10:27-28 what Jesus teaches:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28, ESV)

What a promise to His sheep. We follow the Good Shepherd because we hear His voice and He knows us. He gives us eternal life, and we will never perish and no one can steal us from Him. He is mighty to save and to keep us. These promises and empowerment are precious to us.

Now, this is a parenting article and relates to being both parents and children. As parents, we are called to lead our families into this abundant life. We speak to and live out before our families, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” The abundant life in Christ and obedience to His voice will leads our family through mountain tops and valleys. So, we encourage our families to embrace both the joy and sorrows of obedience as we listen to and follow the Good Shepherd wherever He leads us.

Scripture teaches that when we obey our parents, there is blessing in that.

Ephesians 6:1-3 (ESV) says: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother"— this is the first commandment with a promise—'that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’”

Or from Colossians 3:20 (ESV):

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

As a son or daughter, we are to discover that to obey our mother and to obey our father means to listen to their voice, to hear what they say, and to do what they ask. Sometimes that means I don’t do what I want to do, or I must do what I don’t want to do. Rather, I do what my parents ask me to do. That's what obedience to their voice and leading is.

What do you want of me? What do you want me to do? Help me to hear your voice and do what pleases you.

This is really what this article is about—we follow our King, Christ Jesus, we love Him and obey Him. One thing I have been learning in my own life is that obeying God is a combination of embracing the joy and abundance He has for us while also embracing the privilege of sharing in suffering for His glory. The Christian life is truly a life that is full of joy while also embracing heartbreaking pain and sorrow. There is a genuine broken heartedness that is part of the Christian life. It is a beautiful abundant life that embraces the truth that we live in a fallen and broken world and we ourselves are being changed through a process of mountain tops and valleys that are part of God’s good plan to lead us in paths of righteousness (holiness) for our eternal good and His glory.

As a parent, as I lead my family, I recognize that even as we chase after Jesus together, we will encounter difficulty and embrace sacrificially living in obedience to His will. There is joy even in times of trouble.

In the account of King Saul, who offered sacrifices rather than obeying the will of God, 1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV) asks this question:

“Has the YHWH as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the YHWH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Obedience pleases GOD. He delights in it.

As parents, we want to remind our children that obedience pleases us and makes our home a happy home.

Follow us as we follow Christ: Obedience to the will of God is good for us all. It pleases God and makes our home a happy home. Set the standard for your home: we make it our aim to please Him! Yes! Make this the aim of your family. I am talking about children of every age— from little ones (like grandchildren) to adult children.

Christian parents, when you prayerful consider what it is you want for your family, for your children, and your children’s children. Isn’t it that you all would listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him through the adventure of a lifetime? Isn’t it about the willingness to listen and to heed Christ’s voice?

One of the things the Holy Spirit has been showing me is that obedience to Him will never destroy our lives. It will never ruin us. Rather, through obedience, we will participate in mountain tops of joy and valleys of sorrow and suffering. This is what transforms parents and children. There is a part of the Christian life that involves denying ourselves as parents and children, but there is also the joy of embracing obedience, trusting that God's plan is the very best for us as a family. His ways are higher and better than our own.

Embracing obedience will always lead to ultimate blessing, even as we endure temporary sorrows and pain; even embracing of delayed gratification of temporary pleasures trusting in the promises of God that we will ultimately experience the greatest pleasures and treasures found in Him and obedience to His will.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Be doers of the Word. Listen to it, obey it, and live by it.” (James 1:2, ESV)

“But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11:28, ESV)

Jesus is precious to us, He says:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, ESV)

Be reminded today, obedience is what we are called to as Christians. God Himself will empower us and help us embrace the abundant life He leads us into.

Obedience to His will won’t ever ruin our lives, rather we embrace the reality of temporary sufferings and pain as part of the process to transform us and prepare us for eternal joy in the presence of God. Oh, He is worthy of it all—the abundant life that Christ leads us into, both here and now, and in the life to come. May Jesus be glorified as we surrender to Him and obey Him from the heart.