Things are not always the way the first appear. First impressions can deceive.

The first son said no, but reconsidered. Why?

Perhaps he felt guilty.

Perhaps he feared retribution.

Perhaps he regretted his disrespect.

Perhaps he just changed his mind.

But he reconsidered, and he went and did his father's bidding.

Have you ever struggled with God's directives? Have you ever said, "No, Lord. I can't do that. I won't do that. I'm afraid to do that. I'm unsure about that."

Certainly, Abraham must have struggled with God's command to take his only son, Isaac, up on the mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. The scriptures do not mention a struggle, but surely, it was a time of great struggle for Abe. It had to be. This was his son - his own flesh and blood.

And, certainly, Abraham had the option to refuse. He could have said, "God, this is too hard a thing that you have asked. I can't do it. You know how much I love this son. After all, you gave him to me. You promised him years before he was born. You brought him to me under impossible circumstances. It was truly miraculous how you gave him to us, and we just can't do this thing you have asked." And Abraham and Sarah and Isaac could have lived happily ever after. They could have worked their land and lived to see grandchildren and then died at a ripe old age.

Abraham could have parted ways with God and lived as many heathen do. Or he could have maintained a limited, casual relationship with God - limited by his inability to truly give God what he desired and required. He could have maintained a "form of godliness", a powerless profession of religion.

But, there would never have been a nation of Israel, and there would have never been Savior born of the seed of Abraham.

Illus. Pearls

A cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. "Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face. dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you mightget another crisp dollar bill from grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere – Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.""Then give me your pearls.""Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess – the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite.""That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again,"Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you.""Then give me your pearls." "Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.""That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And, when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you." With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached outwithone hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of beautiful genuine pearls. He had had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.

Just like our heavenly Father. What are you hanging on to?

I want you to know that it's okay to struggle with obedience - as long as you eventually make the right decision and obey. Many biblical greats struggled with obedience. Give God what he wants and he'll give you His best.

If at first, you don't jump in there and start running with God, don't despair. There is still hope for you. For you, like our young friend here, can reconsider and repent and respect the Father's desire.

But let us consider the second son. He immediately agreed and promised to 'get right to it'. But he never did. This was the kid in school who was the first to raise his hand but never came through with the right answer. Looking good was more important than being right.

I noticed, growing up, that my sister had much less grief than I did. She seemed to be much wiser than I, for when our parents told us to do something, I immediately had an argument, a reason why I didn't want to and shouldn't have to do it. I had my own ideas. My sister, on the other hand, had an agreeable nature. She would readily agree to whatever was requested. She still did what she 'darn well pleased', but she didn't argue about it. She usually ended up doing the same things I wanted to do, while I stayed spanked, punished, grounded, or whatever else was suitable for rebellion. "She got the gold mine, and I got the shaft."

Let me tell you something about this young man in our story. He represents the majority of Christians today. We know how to act. We know what to say. We know how to appear righteous and obedient, but in reality, we're just 'saying the right things' and 'doing our own thing.'

We sing, "I love you Lord", but we watch more TV than we pray. We say, "All I want is to be more like you", but we hold on to that pornography, or lust, or greed, or self-centeredness.

We sing, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord." And He says, "I want you to go to the altar."

And we say, "Where Lord? To Bible School? To the Revival Meetings? To Africa?" And He says, "No! I want you to go to that altar and repent and do my will." And we say, "Boy, I must be out of tune with God today. I thought He said to go to the altar and repent. I'd better fast and pray about this."

He says, "Go tell your neighbors about me." And we say, "What's that Lord? Did you say I'd go to hell with these neighbors around me? I think I'm feeling led to move to a Christian neighborhood."

He says, "I want you to deal with your sin." And we say, "Yeah, you're right Lord. I need to deal with all those sinners out there."

God says, "I want you to work in my field." And we say, "Yes, Lord. I'll do it. As soon as the Spirit leads me, I'll do it. Pastor, you can count on me. As soon as I get some time, I'm gonna really be a great servant of the Lord. But right now, I'm kinda busy. So you go on, and I'll catch up with you later… later… later."

"Hey, pastor. We're behind you. Yeah, get those binoculars out. You'll see us."

And they usually show up. "Oh! You finished already. Boy, I was really hoping you'd save me something to do."

Well, we did all we could without you, but wow, look at all the grain that went to waste because we were so short handed.

A lot of people will stand before God on Judgment Day and say, "Boy Lord, if we had only had more time. I was just about ready to jump right in there when that trumpet sounded. I just didn't have enough time."

Now is the time. This is the day.

What is a hypocrite? One who has lip-service religion! And what is that?

• Speak one thing, but do another.
• Have one standard for you, but another for themselves.
• Say what they think you want to hear. (they patronize - agree, but not really)
• Say what will get them what they want. (they lie)
• Make empty promises. (I'll do this…I'll call you…I'll pray for you)
• Profess to know things they don't know. (religious talk - Christianese)
• Sing praise, but harbor evil.
• Say they care, but they never share.

So, where do you stand?