I have been thinking about obedience, and what it means to me to be obedient. In life each of us finds that we have to be obedient to something. Yet, the world looks upon obedience as submitting and giving in to authority. As a believer of Jesus, I feel as though my acts of obedience are not giving in but surrendering to God. I want more of Him and less of me and in order to do so, I have to be willing to give my self wholly to Him and allow His will to unfold. It is not a matter of self-sacrifice, but of giving of myself for something bigger and better than me. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel responds to Saul as he boasts of all the sacrifice he has made for the Lord. "Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken better than the fat of rams."(Amplified version) When God asked me to go back to school and become a nurse, what would have happened if I was not obedient? I may never have received my calling to missions! Granted God may have used a different situation to speak to me, but who knows? I can tell you, until God changed my heart towards nursing I had no desire to be a nurse. I was not one of those little girls that put my dolls in the "hospital" and bandaged them up. I could not even stand the sight of blood. But, it was actually on my first missions trip to Guatemala that the Lord began to speak to my heart about nursing. I love being a nurse and know now that it is part of the calling that God has placed on my life. I am so thankful I surrendered and submitted to that call. If God is speaking to you today, listen to Him and be obedient to whatever it is you feel He is asking you to do. You have no idea what bearing that may have on your life and of those around you.