A Reading Guide for A Testament of Devotion

Chapter Two: Holy Obedience

Should you accompany me in exploring Christian spirituality utilizing A Testament of Devotion as a resource, I will furnish you with a written reading guide each week. I will present a video introduction and reflection on the material we are currently reading on Thursday this week.

Reading Chapter Two is the goal for this week. Writing a study guide when one so clearly loves a book is a risky effort. Emotion can easily get in the way of clarity. So, let me openly admit to my fervent love of chapter two here at the outset. While the entiret chapter is a marvel to me, the first five pages, which consists of an introduction of two paragraphs and the first section—called The Nature of Holy Obedience—consisting of 4 pages, has been the single-most important 5 pages I have ever read. I’m not trying to convince you that you should love these 5 pages as I do; I’m simply describing how important they have been for me.

When I’ve grown discouraged, when I’ve failed, when the way has been hard, when I can’t see what God is doing, when I’ve grown complacent, when I’ve given up, these five pages have been a godsend. I read them, and a switch gets flipped to “on” inside me. As silly as it might sound to you, I find myself whispering thinks like this as I read, awaken, and come back to life:

• “Want me to do nothing more right now than be still and listen to You? O.K. I can do that!”

• “Want me to run through that wall—that wall that has knocked me over 5 times before? O.K. game on.”

• “Want me to welcome and love these people like you do? O.K., I’ll do that.”

• “Want me to take a firm stand for Your ideas and ways no matter what culture or church thinks? O.K. I ready for that."

Now that you know how highly I regard Chapter Two—Holy Obedience—let me tell you three things about it as a general introduction to the chapter:

1. It was written as a stand-alone essay. Kelly did not intend it to follow what the book calls chapter one or precede chapter three. So, the ideas contained in chapter two are wholly intact, not conditioned by what comes before or after. So, you can read it as an entire book, with everything he wanted to say about a life of obedience to Christ contained in this one chapter.

2. While what I just said is absolutely true, the editors made a brilliant decision to place this essay after The Light Within, which is Chapter One. The editors were good friends of Kelly who, following Kelly’s untimely death, wanted us to know what Kelly had discovered. The heart of his discovery was the dwelling place where God and humans dwell in intimacy with one another. He was floored by the capacity of humans to know God intimately and to be known by God in such intimacy. As thrilled as he was by this spiritual discovery, he hints at a particular implication at the end of The Light Within. This experience of intimacy with God is wonderful, life-giving, and radiant. But it also opens our spiritual eyes to what he calls the "…totalitarian claims of Christ.” (You will find this statement in the last two paragraphs of chapter one.) In that divine center where Christ dwells with us and we dwell with Christ, “No vestige of reservation of ‘our’ rights can remain. Straddle arrangements and compromises between our allegiances to the surface level and the divine center cannot endure.” Absolute obedience to Christ is the only option once He is known in such intimacy.

3. The second chapter, Holy Obedience, is Kelly’s attempt to describe what a life of absolute obedience looks like. He will tell us how we can begin to live a life of obedience, and he will describe the kind of transformative fruit that grows from obedience to Christ.

I’ve prepared a reading guide to help you get more from the second chapter. It has two sections: Suggestions for Reading a Spiritual Classic and Chapter One Reading Guide. As you keep reading, you’ll find both of these sections.

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Suggestions for Reading a Spiritual Classic

First, begin with prayer

God is going to reveal Himself to you. He is going to reveal a word that will kindle your imagination. Prepare yourself for this discovery by breathing a short prayer to prepare your mind, spirit, and soul for receptivity. It can be as simple as, “God, open my eyes that I might see.” Whatever words you breathe will help center your focus as you begin to read.

Second, slow is the speed of discovery

Just as when you read a portion of scripture meditatively, select a manageable portion of the chapter and read until an insight leaps out at you. Do not intend to read the entire chapter from beginning to end in one sitting. Much will pass you by that you fail to notice. When a verse, a few words, or even one or two words strike a chord within you, pause and consider what you have discovered.

Third, ask some questions.

Here are just a few of the questions you might ask:

• Does the passage that caught my attention give me new insight into the nature of God?

• Does it explain something about the spiritual life I didn’t understand before?

• Does it tell me something about myself?

• What must I do to act on the insight I’ve just gained?

Fourth, rest quietly in the treasure you’ve discovered.

Sit quietly for a few moments before going on with your day. Be alert to the gentle movements of the Spirit. Then have an open conversation about what you have read and seen with the Lord. God loves a good dialogue. He led you purposefully to the discoveries you made just so you could have a conversation in the cool of the garden over the treasure he packed into this chapter, waiting for your discovery in 2024!

Lastly, write down your new insights, discoveries, and commitments in a notebook (journal).

Keeping a record of what you have found, with a date and location added, will help you build a record that will reveal your life's real transformation over time.

Reading Guide for Chapter Two: Holy Obedience

Following are a few suggestions to help you understand better what you are about to find in Holy Obedience.

First, read the introduction (the first two paragraphs) carefully.

Kelly is trying to tell us a story, using the analogy of a sheep and shepherd. In the second paragraph, he tells us in one sentence where he is going to take us in this chapter: the life of absolute and complete and holy obedience to the voice of the Shepherd. If you get lost in the chapter, come back to this sentence. It is the waymarker that will remind you where he is trying to take you.

Before leaving the introduction, read the last sentence several times. He describes in multiple ways how God, not us, is the initiator of everything.

• What does it do to you when you see how absolutely God initiates? Does it confuse you—doesn’t our culture empower us to initiate and direct our lives? Does it comfort you? Does it alarm you? Is it something you are familiar with? What is your response to this idea of God as the initiator and we as merely the receivers and responders?