It was about Midnight, December 18, 1967 when the bus pulled past the gate and stopped in front of what looked like a big office building. Before I could get my bearings, the door flew open and Sgt. Pierce in his Smokey Bear hat jumped in the front door and started yelling at the top of his lungs “You mother f____ing maggot a_____es get off this G____ d_____ bus — Move it, move it, MOVE IT! You’re wasting my time ladies, get out here and stand on those yellow foot prints or I will beat your silly a____es into submission.” For the next 36 hours I, my friend Chuck Davis, and the rest of us got rushed, pushed, shoved, hit, and screamed at, and had our heads shaved, accumulated five sets of clothes, boots, a rifle, and more. We were ordered to carry those new possessions above our heads in a duffle bag until at last we found our new “home.” The next morning at 5 A.M. we were awakened to the deafening roar of garbage can lids being beaten with sticks, a fog horn, and screams that never disappeared during those three months. We had just been welcomed to the Platoon 3086 of the United States Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. Our journey into an extended lesson on obedience had just begun.

I was raised in a military family but I assure you I was NOT prepared for that night! Nor did the reality of where I was set in until we began our combat training the next day under the signs reading: KILL OR BE KILLED. Twelve weeks blurred until that cool March morning when I realized 75+% of the platoon was headed for Viet Nam. Over the next few months Chuck and I sat in AE School. Each month we saw members of our platoon appear posthumously in the Marine Corps magazine. They had been obedient to the end, defending the freedom for many to jeer at us, burn flags, protest the war, or move to Canada. Freedom is not simple or free. It comes with a heavy price of obedience for many.

In the middle of 1 Samuel 15:22 the words To obey is better than sacrifice speak to how much God values obedience. Obedience is why He required all Israelite men to serve in the military. There they would learn the same valuable lesson the centurion in Matthew 8:9 learned as “a man under authority.” That lesson, which Jesus said illustrated more faith than even his disciples, is that when we are obedient there is protection and favor from that “Authority.” You see, the platoon leader considers the whole group and its safety. He understands the strategy of war and wants his troops safe and secure. So when they are obedient to his commands their chance of survival improve — even if following the commands bring about uncertainty, invoke fear, make you physically uncomfortable, or stress you out. So it is the same with following God’s commands. They may seem inhibiting or painful but the obedience protects us from death in the same way the officer’s commands protect his troops.

At this point in your life, you should have no doubt of how much your mom and I have loved you. Your love for us was illustrated when you were obedient to us. When you were obedient to us, you were obedient to God. With your obedience is the command’s promise — long life. Learning respect, honor, and obedience extends our lives, brings us peace and rarely restricts us from anything — except pain.

Love, Dad