CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE
On Obedience
THE first step in humility is obedience without delay. This is characteristic of those who hold nothing dearer to them than Christ. Whether it is on account of the holy servitude they have embraced, or the fear of hell, or the glory of life everlasting, these are unable to tolerate any delay in responding to the order of their superior. As soon as the order is given, they act upon it as if God Himself had issued the command. Of these men the Lord says: “At the hearing of the ear he hath obeyed Me.” (Ps. 17:45; 18:45, Vulg.). And again He says to the teachers: “He that heareth you heareth Me.” (Luke 10:16).
Men such as these, therefore, quit their own affairs instantly and forsake their own will. They disengage their hands, putting aside what they were doing and, with the ready step of obedience, follow the voice of him who commands with determination. Thus are fulfilled, as if in the same moment, both matters—the order commanded by the master and the action completed by the disciple—united and more quickly accomplished through swiftness sparked by the fear of God, for both are pushed on by their desire for attaining everlasting life. They, therefore, seize upon the narrow way about which the Lord says: “Narrow is the way which leadeth to life.” (Matt. 7:14), so that, not living according to their own will, nor obeying their own desires and passions, but walking according to the judgment and command of another, they live in monasteries, and desire an Abbot to be over them. Such as these truly live up to that saying of the Lord: “I came not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” (John 6:38).
This obedience, however, will be acceptable to God and agreeable to men then only, if what is commanded is done without hesitation, delay, lukewarmness, grumbling, or complaint, because the obedience which is rendered to superiors is rendered to God. For He Himself said: “He that heareth you, heareth Me.” (Luke 10:16). And obedience must be offered by the disciples with a good will, “for the God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7). For if the disciple obeys with an ill will, and murmurs, not only with lips but also in his heart, even though he fulfill the command, his action will not be acceptable to God, who regards the heart of the murmurer. And for such an action he will gain no benefit; rather he incurs the punishment of murmurers, unless he amend his ways and offer reparation.