Here is my rough draft of post 6 of 7 on the seven checkpoints.  It was never published with the rest.  Post seven was lost and since the response has not been all that intense, I am not going to recreate it.

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There are few things that cause me to recollect about childhood more then a good game of, “Simon Says.”  Of course we all remember that by saying the word, “Simon Says” before giving an instruction, it is the magic word, the word of authority that causes actions of the players to kick in.

When we play this game and the person in the front has tricked us we get frustrated with them, we sit down, and we sulk at their authority.  We like to sulk at authority, don’t we?

We especially like to sulk when we think the rules are dumb.  Just this morning I read about a law that is now going off the books.  It used to be in Ireland that you were denied by right the ability to mix sheep poop with coffee but, guess what, now you can.

You know a lot of time teens have authority figures in their life they find silly and want to blow off, but look what Scripture says about submitting to authority.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. (Eph 6, NLT)

1 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.  (Titus 3, NLT)

1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord,[a] for this is the right thing to do. 2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” (Eph 6, NLT)

Why do you think that God would make submitting to authorities a spiritual issue? 

I think it is because failing to submit…

First, causes us to lose fellowship with God.

You all remember in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve end up eating the fruit.  What was at the heart of it?  A belief that they new better and did not need to listen to authority and what was the result?  Disconnection with God.

What is very interesting to me is that in an effort to try to promote freedom by flaunting the rules what they ended up getting in return was more rules. 

What word do we tend to more associate with God?  Freedom or rules?  I think it tends to be rules, but the reality is the God is a God of freedom but we need rules to protect us.

Secondly, it causes us to experience pain on this earth.

21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
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25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.[b] 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.  (NLT)

What do you think would happen if I failed to submit to and love my wife like Christ loved the church?

I would…

- lose the respect of my kids
- lose my best friend
- lose my job
- lose your respect
- become depressed
- cost me huge amounts of money in divorce costs

Submitting to others is serious business. 

We are getting towards the end…let’s review the habits.

1. Have faith in what is true about God, not circumstances.
2. Engage in Spiritual Disciplines
3. Make good choices in with the guy/girl thing.
4. Make good friends
5. Make wise choices

And now,

6. Submit to authority.

One to go.  See you next week.