Being good and obedience are not the same thing

God used a kid in my classroom to talk to me today. This particular child is always in trouble for disobedience. Today for example: I say, "sit down, pick up your pencil, it's time for your spelling test." He cleans up the marker board center instead. Very nice....but not obedient. Another day he dawdled lining up for P.E. I finally left him since it is illegal to drag a child down the hall by his ear. When I came back, he had placed every student's backpack on their desk. Very kind thought....but not obedient. This is an eternal battle with this child.

So God said to me today, "Look at him. Being good and obedience are not the same thing." I thought about that long and hard. I think I often make good choices, seek to do nice things for other people, try to be righteous. But sometimes all the good that I'm doing keeps me from having the time and energy to be obedient. Sometimes God is asking me to do something and I am too busy doing a good thing to obey. So that's my thought for the day....I want to seek obedience more than goodness. Sometimes what I think is the best choice is not what God thinks is best.