Remind them to obey

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, - Titus 3.1

I think being subject to authority grates on all of us a bit. No one really likes to be told what to do. We would all rather do it our own way.

But it is not too hard to submit when someone when people lead the way we like. If leaders are treating us right and respecting us and allowing us to live the way we want and worship and serve God and take care of our families and such it is pretty easy to be subject to rulers and authorities.

But what happens when they don’t lead that way.

What happens when leaders try to take away our ‘rights’ and raise our takes and limit our freedoms and stand behind wickedness and immorality? What happens when our leaders reject our Christian ethos or even oppose it?

I think it is clear. ‘Be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey…’ In our modern democracies we have the option to express our disagreements and opinions and try to change them. But, when all is said and done, we are to be subject and obey - even if we don't 'like' it. 

The rest of the verse tells us why – because it prepares us to do every good work.

Submission means that we are trusting God no matter what we like or don’t like. We obey and then we trust God to sort out the rest. The only exception is when obedience forces us to disobey God.

If we can’t trust God to submit to and obey our rulers we will never have the faith to do a work for Him.