Do you ever hear a phrase or expression, think it sounds beautiful, and know that it must mean more than you’re grasping, because, in spite of how eloquently it rolls off the tongue, you just don’t quite “get it”? In my ongoing promise to be honest and transparent with you, I’ll confess that, at the age of 54.972, I awoke at 4:21 this morning, and by 4:25, I thought: “That’s what that means!” The second that is the descriptive phrase: “a long obedience in the same direction.” The first that is what I will attempt to share with these words.

Friedrich Nietzsche is generally cited as the originator of the expression and is quoted as saying, “The essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction.” On his secular (as opposed to faith-based) leadership blog, “Leadership by Soul,” Jonathan Wilson states it more succinctly than I could come up with:

Nietzsche had a rather narcissistic and exploitative view of what is “worth living for.” Nevertheless, I believe the overall principle he states is correct. Influence may begin with a leader’s courageous initiative to do the right thing, but it is unlikely to reach its potential unless the leader practises “a long obedience in the same direction.” Leadership that influences does not only begin with courageous initiative: it is the long, arduous and often wearisome repetition of multiple acts of courageous initiative. To succeed, leaders have to persevere unstintingly; and to the end. —Jonathan Wilson, Leadership by Soul

This morning I awoke with the same sense of urgency I have had in recent mornings to pray for a friend who is battling this very thing: not in the area of leadership but in the walk of faith. But, as is usually the case with me, I ended up saying, “Lord, before I can pray this for my friend, I must pray for myself in this same area.” And…BAM…that’s when the clock struck 4:25, my aha moment.

You see, it’s easy to cling to Christ when I am able to set aside possessions, people, position, and prestige and realize that Christ is all I truly have and all I truly need. Herein lies obedience: obedience to His command to seek His kingdom first, to set my affection on things above, and to love my Lord and my God with all my heart, soul, and mind.

But then complacency, double-mindedness, and a lack of two-way communication with my loving, forgiving Creator set in…yet again. My crisis is resolved; my urgent need no longer exists; I’m settled back in to receiving the temporary salve of that which makes me feel better…about me…and my direction begins to shift. Sometimes the change is dramatic and seemingly sudden. But more often than not, it is gradual, subtle, and easily denied. After all, I tell myself, “I’m still a Christian who believes in God; I’m still going to church when my schedule permits; I’m still praying eloquently when called upon to ‘say grace’ before the meal.” Oh yes, I’m still moving forward; I’m just moving in a different direction now—complacently wavering instead of fervently worshiping.

It’s that shift in focus—that one-second glance away from the cross and the depth of meaning that it holds—that’s all it takes. In that singular moment my spiritual compass gets off course and leads me in a direction that seems so inviting, welcoming, and exciting that I tell myself I haven’t changed; I have only progressed. I’m so caught up in its “benefits,” that I neglect to see that Christ, previously the focal point of my endeavors, is no longer in view.

Sadly, it often takes yet another crisis, another eye-opening event to awaken me to the fact that I have not only changed course, but, in doing so, I have been disobedient to the One whose simply stated command was, “Follow Me.”

But along with an aha moment at 4:25 in the morning comes the reminder that there are fresh mercies for me to claim and apply today! As the old hymn states, He offers “grace that is greater than all my sin.” Wow. Just wow! His forgiveness is already there. He just opens His arms and with His unconditional love embraces my return as I confess my disobedience and repent of giving in to the distractions and the change in direction they produced. And I find there a more inviting, welcoming, and exciting depth of joy than all I had dreamed possible only a few short moments before.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23, NIV).

And in that moment I choose Christ. I take His hand, determined through its strength and by His grace to retain my focus, to know Him more personally, and to walk beside Him with a “long obedience in the same direction.”