And now we turn our attention to God's Word. I'm going to ask you please to turn to the book of John 2. John 2. And we look again at verses 1-11. On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. Well, the master of the feast tasted the water, now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did it Cana in Galilee and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. Let's pray together. Our Father in Heaven, now we ask for Your blessing upon the preaching of Your Holy Word. We thank You, Lord, that You've given us Your Word. That You've not left us in the dark and You've not left us thoughts and the imaginations that would originate in the hearts of men. In our own hearts. In our own minds. But Lord, You have given us special revelation. You have given us holy Scripture, which are indeed Your very words. And so Lord, this morning as we listen and as we read and as we proclaim and as we study, help us to hear Your Word for what it is. Not the Word of men, but the Word of God. And may Your Holy Spirit be our teacher in this time. We ask You this in Jesus' name, Amen. There is a sin we must all avoid. We talked about this last Sunday. We must always stay away from the idea that we have the right or the freedom to suggest to the Son of God what He is to do. We must be careful not to be presumptuous. not to think that we're in partnership with Him in determining His course and His work. We saw that Mary was guilty of that presumption and her son corrected her for it. His correction was gentle and it was respectful. Woman, what have I to do with this? What does this have to do with me? Or we saw some other possibilities. What do you and I have in common? We are not in partnership together. And then he says, my hour has not yet come. That is, Mary, I am working on a timetable, but it's not yours. I'm working on a timetable, but it is the timetable of God. And so he corrects her gently, respectfully, but unmistakably. Mary has to understand that while she is his mother, From the standpoint of His human nature, He is her Lord, her Creator, her God. Indeed, He will be her Savior. And so she must submit to Him. She must obey Him. He doesn't obey her. She obeys Him. You know, in one way we can understand this because we have more than one relationship to Jesus. The Bible tells us it's an amazing thought. But in one sense, Jesus is our elder brother. He said, I'm going to my father and your father. In one sense, he is our elder brother. We know that he is the friend who sticks closer than a brother, isn't he? He is our friend. And yet, even as we acknowledge that he has made us sons and daughters of God by adoption and in some sense is our elder brother, and even though we acknowledge he is the friend who sticks closer than a brother, He is always to be viewed as our Lord, our King, our Master, our God. Mary had to see this. But now we see something very positive in Mary. She overstepped her bounds, but to her credit, it didn't take her long to correct her course. Immediately, she receives his words of correction. Yet, I'll say this, she knew her son. And she knew that even though he corrected her, she still sensed he was ready to do something in this setting. He was ready to do something about this situation. And so with submission, but with faith, with submission, but with hope, his mother said to the servants, verse 5, do whatever he tells you. Do whatever he tells you. And so with a righted mind and heart, She leaves it to Him and to whatever He's going to tell the servants to do. And that's what I want us to talk about today, this morning and tonight. I want us to talk about the submission that you and I must learn. Last week we talked about a sin to be avoided. Today I want us to talk about a submission to be learned. We must learn to be obedient to our God, obedient to our Savior. That means we've got to be submitted to Him. What I want to do this morning and tonight is show you from this sign that Jesus performed at Canaan, I want to show you six things that are present wherever there's true obedience. Obedience is the mark of someone who has truly been converted. What will characterize someone who has been taken from death and brought into life, what will characterize someone whose sins have really been forgiven, what will characterize someone who really has been made a child of God, What will characterize someone who really has been given a heart of flesh and the heart of stone has been taken out of them, what will characterize them is obedience to God. Obedience will become the pattern of their life. Disobedience was the lifestyle we all lived before we were saved. Obedience becomes the lifestyle that we live after we have been converted. Question is, what does real obedience look like? That's what I want us to look at today. Six things that are present. where there's true obedience. Here's the first thing we see together. Where there is true obedience, there will be submission. There is submission in obedience. Before obedience is ever seen in what we do or don't do, it's going to be seen in the attitude of our hearts. Let me say that again. Before obedience is ever demonstrated by what you do or by what you refuse to do because you obey God, Before it's ever seen their obedience will first be present in your heart. It'll be the right attitude, and that's the question, have you bowed your heart and your will to Jesus as Lord? Mary teaches us this, she begins pressing him, she doesn't press him in an overt way, she simply says they have no wine. But Jesus knows her thoughts and he knows the intentions of her heart and he knows that his mother is not just saying they have no wine. What she's really saying is you need to do something about this. And so he knows that he's being pressed and so he corrects her. So what does she do? She has to make an about face and she does. She goes from pressing him to leaving it with him. She leaves. She exits. She simply says to the servants, do whatever he tells you to do. It is his prerogative to do whatever it is that he sees fit to do. It is up to him. And I wonder if we realize that our hearts have to be in that frame if we're going to be an obedient person. I wonder if we realize that obedience is not just measured by what we do or don't do. It is first measured By the attitude and the atmosphere of our heart, have we submitted our will to Jesus? Have we said in our hearts, I leave it with you. I just want to do whatever it is you tell me. Is that our heart attitude? When that is our heart attitude, when our will has been broken, so to speak, when we are like that broken animal, That's what the word meekness means. It was a word used to speak of animals that have been domesticated. If our strengths and all the things the Lord has put in us, if those things have been broken and are now submitted to Christ, and we have obedient hearts, there are going to be some other attitudes that are always there. Where there is an obedient heart, there's going to be love. You do know, beloved, that love is what fuels Christian obedience. Why do we obey the Lord? Why do we want to obey the Lord? Because we love Him. I was talking to a brother the other day. We were talking about obedience. And he was looking to illustrate something to a friend of his. And we were talking, the three of us, and he said, one of the men, he's not yet a believer, he was saying that he's afraid. He doesn't read the Bible because it makes him afraid because he has seen the power of God's Word. It exposes him to himself. And he was saying, should I feel that? I mean, should I be afraid? Or should I get past my fear and go ahead and read the Bible anyway? And of course, you know what we told him. Read the Bible. But as we were discussing this, this young brother, he said, but we do obey the Lord because we are afraid, don't we? I mean, we do fear His wrath, don't we? And of course, he chose the wrong word. I knew what he was meaning. But you know, beloved, we don't fear His wrath, do we? In fact, in Romans 8, 1, we know, and what I mean by saying we don't fear Israel, we know we're no longer the objects of Israel. Romans 8, 1 says there's therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We don't walk around feeling condemned as though we're under a sentence of condemnation. We know that Jesus took away that condemnation. So if you don't fear that you are the object of the wrath of God, and if you don't live under a sentence of judgment and condemnation, why would you obey God? What's the answer? You love Him. You love Him. And in fact, there has never been Christian obedience offered where there was not love. If love is absent, what you have is not obedience. In John 14, 15, our Lord said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Which, by the way, also speaks to what someone really has if they say they love the Lord, but they don't obey him. If someone says, I love the Lord, but they don't live a lifestyle of obedience, do they really love the Lord? What's the answer? No, Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14, 21, "...whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." 1 John 5, 3 says, "...for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." That is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome to us. And so if we have this heart of obedience, it's going to be a heart of love. There's another attitude present in a heart that's been submitted to God, it is the attitude that says, I rejoice to do his will. Because I love him, I want to obey him, and so obedience to me is not a burden, obedience to me is my highest joy. We read it a moment ago, 1 John 5, 3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. If His commandments are not burdensome to those who love Him, what are they? If they're not burdensome, if it's not some heavy weight, if it's not a sense of heavy duty, then what is it to obey God if you love Him? It's light, isn't it? Or another way to say it is, it is a delight. It is a delight to do the will of God. It is a joy to obey His commandments. It is our delight to serve the One whom we love, to please the One whom we love. That's no hardship to us. That's no heavy weight to us. That's our joy. And so you'll know if you have the right heart of obedience, because you'll do what you do because you love Him, and you'll do what you do because it's your highest privilege, it's your highest honor, it's your highest ambition and joy to please the One who saved you. There's another attitude present in the right heart. If our heart's in the right place, there's also an attitude of fulfillment. because you love Him and because you delight to please Him than what you actually experience when you obey Him. There is a sense of fulfillment. Our Lord taught us this, taught His disciples this. Look over here in John chapter 4 real quickly. John chapter 4. And look at verse 27. John 4, verse 27. Just then His disciples came back. They marveled that He was talking with a woman. This is the woman at the well. The Samaritan woman. But no one said, what do you seek? Or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? And obviously, she believed that He was. They went out of town and were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples, you know, they were really sharp fellows. What did they say to one another? Has anyone brought him something to eat? Who brought lunch? And we didn't tell us. What did Jesus say to them? Verse 34, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. This is My meat. This is My bread. This is My drink. This is My satisfaction. This is My fulfillment. To do the will of God. I want to ask you, have you ever known that sense of satisfaction? You have obeyed the Lord. Maybe even you've obeyed Him at a high cost. Maybe you've obeyed Him to a point where it really did cost you in the temporal realm to obey Him. But then did you know that food that others don't know about? That sense of satisfaction and fulfillment because you have done the will of God. This is what it means to have the right heart. It means you love Him. It means you rejoice to please Him. And it means that your food, your drink, your fulfillment, your satisfaction in life is found in doing His will. But there's something else that's present, has to be for all this to be true. You have to trust His way. To have a heart of obedience means you really do trust His way. This is what had to happen in Mary's heart. She had to be convinced in a moment, in an instant, and she was. That it was his right to do whatever he chose to do. And that they had to do it his way. Whatever he tells you to do, do it. Her heart, she went from pressing him to submitting to him. She went from the sinful presumption of trying to tell him what to do to saying whatever he says to do, that's what we're going to do. And that's submission. It is joyfully, trustfully, lovingly, contentedly coming to the place that you just want to do as well. And it's an attitude before it ever becomes an action. before your obedience has ever seen what you do or don't do. It is first a condition of the heart." Is that where you are this morning? Have you really submitted to the Son of God? Do you really love Him? Do you really rejoice to do His will? Is that really your food and your drink and what satisfies your heart? Do you really trust His way? Have you really left it with Him? Do you say in your own mind and heart, whatever you say to do, I'll do it? That's obedience. So that wherever there's true obedience, there's submission. There's a second thing wherever there's true obedience. Not only is there submission, there is readiness in obedience. Preparedness, readiness. This is what Mary does. She prepares the servants to do His will. Whatever He says to you, do it. She puts them on notice. She puts them on alert. And now all that awaits is the Word of the Master. When the Word comes, there's going to be activity. When He says, now do this, there's going to be something done. But until then, they are ready. They are prepared to do His will. That's what an obedient spirit looks like. It is ready. It is prepared. It is willing. It is waiting for His instructions. Something we can say about this particular mark of obedience is it will wait. It will wait. You realize these servants were as obedient in their non-activity as they were in their activity. They were as obedient to do nothing without his word. As they were to finally do something when he gave his word. Sometimes the best obedience that we'll ever give to God is not to run ahead of Him. Sometimes the most difficult obedience that we're called to give to God is to not try and come up with something ourselves. What do we do? You wait until you know what to do. You wait on His instructions. You wait on His Word. You search the Scriptures. You find out what the Word of God says about it before you do anything. Sometimes that's the best obedience you'll ever give to God, not to just go do something. To realize that we have no authority to act apart from His Word. I think this is one of the things the church of our generation has to learn. This is not our church. This is His church. We are not the head of this church, the Lord Jesus is. And in church life, now I'm talking about churches, not just this church. In worship, in church life, in so-called ministry, and I say so-called because some of these things are just that, so-called ministry, we don't have a right to just do whatever it is we want to do. We are to act on the authority of the Word of God. We only have so much authority as we have instruction. And we are to go on those instructions. And so this readiness and obedience, this preparedness means that I will wait until I get the master's word. But what else we can say about it is it waits ready. It will wait, but it waits ready. And so when the time comes that the Son of God does give his instruction, he doesn't have to beg. He doesn't have to convince. He doesn't have to explain everything that he's up to. Does the Lord Jesus give a lot of explanation here? Go fill the water pots with water. You know, these servants could have easily said, excuse me, we need wine. How will water help us get wine? Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, does it, from a human point of view? Fill them up with water. But not only do they obey Him, just based on He said it. Not only do they obey Him, they fill those water pots up to the what? Rim. They obey Him zealously. That's how we're to be. We wait on the instructions of the Son of God, but when we get those instructions, we don't question them. We don't have to have them all explained to us. We don't have to understand everything God is up to, why God gives these commands. We don't have to have all the explanation. We will just act on what He says and we will act on what He says zealously. That's obedience. And so there is submission in obedience and there's readiness. Readiness that will wait, but readiness so that we will move as soon as we get his word. You know, there are a few times where the Lord Jesus is said to have marveled. And one of these times is found in Matthew. Look over there, please. Matthew chapter eight. And I want to have the kind of faith that my Lord would delight in. And in Matthew 8, look at verse 5. When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him. Matthew 8, verse 5. Appealing to him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under My roof. But only say the Word and My servant will be healed." Just stop and let that sink in. You have a Roman centurion who understands that Jesus is unique that He is the Lord. He calls Him Lord. And He understands that Jesus has the authority to just speak the Word and it will be done. Is that not amazing faith? And look at the next verse. Here's why I knew this. Here's why you understood this. Verse 9, "...For I too am a man under authority with soldiers under Me." And I say to one, go and he goes and to another come and he comes. Could you imagine an army full of soldiers that had to have every command explained? Could you imagine what kind of army it would be if you had to sit down and have a three hour conversation about every order? Would it be an effective army? I say, go, and he goes. I say to another, come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and he does it. Verse 10, When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out or thrown into the outer darkness in that place. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And to the centurion, Jesus said, Go, let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. Listen, if disease obeys Jesus at His Word, shouldn't we? So there is submission in obedience and there's readiness in obedience. Readiness. I'll wait until He speaks, but when He speaks, I'll move. There's a third thing that's in true obedience back in John 2. There is abandonment in obedience. Where you have true obedience, You have unconditional surrender. Mary says to these servants, now get this emphasis, whatever He says to you, do it. Whatever He says. There are no limits. There are no qualifications. There are no stipulations. There are no conditions. Whatever He says to you. Do you realize that if you pick and choose which commands of the Son of God that you will obey, you do not obey Him at all? Do you realize that if you are picking and choosing which parts of the Word of God that you will pay attention to, in reality, you're not obeying God at all. You're just obeying your own desires. As soon as you say, I'll listen to this, God, but I won't listen to this, let me ask you, who are you really listening to? Just yourself. Just your own desires. Just your own mind. You have made yourself your Master. If you're not His servant, whose servant are you? You're serving yourself. You're serving the world. You're serving the devil, whether you know it or not. And you'll know when you're really obeying the Son of God, because there is nothing that He could command that you wouldn't be ready to perform. Nothing. Whatever He says to you, do it. I want to ask you, is there a place in your life today where you have drawn a line with Christ? Is there a place in your heart? Is there a place in your life? Is there a place in your relationships? Could even be in your own awareness of your sins. What you're willing to give up and what you're not willing to give up. Might be in your schedule. You know, I'll live for the Lord as long as it doesn't interfere with this. As long as I can still do this. In your priorities. For some people, even their willingness to suffer. I'll serve the Lord so long as it doesn't hurt. So long as it's not painful. Is there a place anywhere in your life where you have said to the Son of God by your attitude or by your actions, I won't go any further than this? If so, do you realize you are not His obedient servant at all? Not at all. To obey Jesus Christ today, you must abandon yourself to Him. There must be nothing off-limits No stipulations. No conditions. No negotiations. I'll tell you right now, He will not be party to your negotiations. It has to be an unconditional surrender to Him. You could imagine that between nations, couldn't you? We'll surrender if... What if someone says no? No, you'll surrender with no conditions. You will abandon yourself to us. You will have to trust us completely. That's what it means to be a servant of Jesus Christ. It means you abandon yourself to Him. It means you surrender yourself to Him. It means there are no conditions. Nothing off limits. Whatever He says to you, you will do it. That's what it means to be a servant. Nothing else is really obedience. You're just dictating the terms, if it's anything else. So where there's true obedience, there's submission. Where there's true obedience, the attitude is right. We're ready. Where there's true obedience, there's abandonment. Which leads to the last thing this morning. There is reverence in obedience. If I'm really obeying, it's because I revere, I reverence the Son of God. I reverence the Lord. Let me put it to you this way. Who in their right mind would ever turn themselves over to another person completely? Without reserve? Who would ever say to anybody else, whatever you say to me, I'll do it? You know, we can reflect back to when we were kids, can't we? What did our parents say to us? At least once in our lifetime, we heard it. If your friend said to you, jump off a building, what's the rest of it? Would you do it? Are you just going to do whatever they say? Mary said whatever he says to you, do it. Why would you ever say to anybody else, whatever you say to me, I'll do it. There's only one reason that a person would ever say that to Jesus Christ. Because they realize who He is. They realize the truth about His identity. They realize the truth about His nature. Do you believe that Jesus Christ deserves your unconditional obedience? If you do, would you say amen? Why am I abandoned to Him? Because He is worthy of that abandonment. He is worthy of that obedience. Do you claim that Jesus is your Savior? Do you claim that He is your Lord? Do you confess Him as your King, your Master, your God? If you do, would you say, Amen? Then listen, I have a question for you from Him. I bring you a question this morning from your Master, from your King, from your Lord, from your God. You say that's who He is to you. You say that's who He is to you. I bring to you a question from His own lips. Luke 6, verse 46, Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? There it is. Why do you call Me, Lord, if you won't do what I tell you? Why do you call me Savior if you won't do what I tell you? Why do you say that I'm your God and your King and your Master if you won't do what I tell you? Do you know what it is to call Jesus your Lord, but then not live a lifestyle of obedience to Him? It's called a lie. It's called a lie. It's a contradiction in terms, isn't it? I don't want to do that, Lord. I don't want to obey You, Master. Why do You call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell You? So I'm to be abandoned to Him because He deserves it. He is the Lord. He is the King. He is the Master. He is my God. He is my Savior. Whatever He says, I'm to do it. But also, I can say this, and it's joyful to be able to say it, I'm to be abandoned to Him because He's wiser than I am. infinitely wiser. Sometimes in an earthly relationship, you can wonder, should that guy be giving the commands and should that guy be doing the service? But in this relationship, is there any question about who ought to be giving commands and who ought to be taking them? He ought to be giving commands. And so I can obey him without reserve, knowing that the Son of God knows perfectly. He's never wrong. And not only does He know perfectly, He knows sovereignly. That is, He commands us knowing what He Himself intends to do in a situation. When you obey Jesus, do you realize you're obeying someone who doesn't just know what will happen? He's in control of what happens. Oh, how we have dumbed down the truth about God in our generation. God not only knows the future, beloved God controls the future. And this is the one who commands us to obey Him. The one who knows what He will do. A good example of this is found in John's Gospel. Look over to chapter 6 real quickly and look at verse 1. John 6, verse 1. After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a large crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain and there He sat down with His disciples. Now, the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up His eyes then and seeing the large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? Notice the next statement. "...He said this to test Him, for He Himself knew what He would do." This is who you serve. The One who commands you to do things. The One who calls you to think about things and to consider things. And even as He commands you and calls you to consider, He already knows what He intends to do. "...Worthy then of My unquestioning obedience." He's wiser than I am. He knows better. We can also say this, I'm to be abandoned to Him because He's purer than I am. Infinitely more holy than I am. My intentions are not always the purest. Hopefully I can say, and I can say truthfully at this point, it's not intentional on my part. I want to have the purest intentions, but I know this, that where our intentions are the very best. You and I have been affected by sin, haven't we? We have been. But if I will listen to what my Savior says and do it, I can be assured that the most holy end possible is what's being pursued. If He told me to do it, it's a pure course. You can count on it. If His Word says to do it, it is right. It's right whether it seems right. It's right whether it feels right. It's right whether the world says it's right. It's right no matter what. He would never command us to a course that is not holy, holy, holy. It's pure. So if I want to walk in purity, if I want to walk in holiness, I can't trust how my heart feels. I can't trust what my natural thoughts are. I trust His Word. What does he say? I'm abandoned to Him because He's worthy of it. I'm abandoned to Him because He's wiser than I am. I'm abandoned to Him because He's pure. He'll never direct me in an impure way. There's another reason I can be abandoned to Him because there's no hurt in His ways. I want to ask you this morning, Christian, Maybe even a non-Christian could answer this. But I don't think so. Christians, let me ask you this. Have you ever obeyed the Son of God and regretted it? Your regrets in this life, what are they tied to? The things that you regret right now, what are they tied to? Are they tied to times of obedience? or disobedience. Why can I obey Him without reserve? Because He has never and never will direct me in a path that in the end hurts me. He loves me. Mary said, they have no wine. He said, What do you and I have in common? We're not in partnership. I'm not working on your timetable, Mary. My hour's not yet come. And to that woman's credit, she repents instantly. And she leaves it with Him. And her words to the servants are, do whatever He tells you. Whatever He says to do, do it. And in that there is submission. And there is readiness. And there is reverence. And there's abandonment. Whatever He says. And so this morning, I want to close by saying to you what Mary said to those servants. Whatever He says to you, do it. Or let me put it another way. Whatever He has said, do it. What has the Son of God said that affects you this morning? Let me ask you, have you ever trusted in Him for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you come to Him as Lord and Savior and God and repented of your sinful ways and looked to Him for the salvation of your soul? Do you know He has commanded you to do it? He has stood on this earth among the very men whom He created and cried out in their midst, if anyone's hungry or thirsty, come to Me. Come to Me. He commands you today, come to Him. What I say to you this morning is, do it. Do it. And He doesn't command you to come to Him tomorrow. He says today is the day of salvation. Now do it. I want to ask you, believer, where in your life has God made plain that you're out of the way? There's something that's got to be made right. Then whatever He has said to you, do it. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when you feel like it. Now. He has spoken. Do it. Whatever He says to you, do it. That's obedience. And may God teach us all to obey Him like that. And all God's people would say, Amen. Let's pray together. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the way that You're allowing us to know our Savior as we look upon Him and listen to Him on the pages of Your Holy Word. We thank You that He is here present with us this day, that He walks in the midst of this church, in all your churches and that He is still issuing the command to all mankind that we should repent of our sins and look to Him for salvation. Lord, may sinners do that even this morning. We thank You there is power in the command in the hand of Your Spirit to produce a heart of obedience. And so, Lord, I pray for anyone who is trusted in Christ but not yet made public their faith and love for him. May they do that even this day. May we, your people, Lord, repent of our sins and get out of those things that are wrong for us. And may we return to the place of obedience to our Master. We ask you this in Jesus' name, Amen.