"Does it really matter?"

I was just reminded about a story my brother(this is us at a George Strait concert in Indianapolis in February) had told me. One(of the many) time we went out and he went up to a girl and started talking to her. He had probably been talking to her for about 20 minutes, and she then looked up at him and said "You don't even know my name do you?" My brother, who is never afraid to be up front, looked at her and said:

"Does it really matter?"

I almost peed myself laughing so hard. I still do every time I picture him saying it. How hilarious is that? But there is some relevance...

I've been reading through 1 Kings, and if you aren't familiar with the Story, it is begins with God's covenant to David, for his Kingdom to prosper. David dies, and Solomon, who "was wiser than any other man" (1 Kings 4:31) assumes the throne. After some time, Solomon breaks the covenant w/ God by worshiping other Gods. God STILL keeps his covenant with David, his servant by leaving his son w/ one kingdom, but punishes Solomon by his enemies defeating him and taking the rest of his lands. The main lesson is God's promises, and how we will always keep them no matter what.

In Chapter 12 and 13, we see another theme arise...mainly being to follow what we know God to be clearly showing us. at the beginning of Chpt. 13 we see this:

The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift."
8 But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the LORD : 'You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.' " 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

The King gave the man an offer, and the man did not even think twice about it...which leads me to believe that he was conditioned in the way I wrote about yesterday I would like to be. He immediately obeyed God. The key is to always obey God anytime we clearly hear Him tell us something without questioning Him. Our Gifts/Rewards are so much greater then what the King or anyone else could promise. Here's what made me think of all of this...

Yesterday at church i felt a call at our youth service to put a decent amount of money in the collection plate, which was going to a woman who works her tail off for the youth group's daughter to help pay for a missions trip to the gulf coast. The plate had already passed, and i didnt want to get up in front of everybody, so I waited until the end. I had never felt that sort of need to do so before. I found myself asking God, not being opposed to the idea or anything, just curious, why He wanted me to do this now instead of last week, or next week.

I couldn't help from laughing out loud (LOL) when I heard God's response...

"Does it really matter?"

So next time you feel God telling you to do something, just do it! Because if you know it is Him telling you to do it, and you are wondering why, come on now...ask yourself:

"Does it really matter?"