Lord, to be obedient to you in all things is not easy. You tell us that my ways are not your ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts. Only obedience is able to close this gap. Because of the consequences of sin, there is a rebellion within each of us. This rebellion seeks its own way. One of the first words we learned to say was “no”. We judge from appearances, from what is pleasing, what feels good. Obedience trains us to judge what is good based on God’s plan for us, rather than externals, which can be deceptive. Obedience is a learned virtue that grows into a habit as we more and more respond to the grace of the moment.