It is something we as Baha'i, have all had to consider and come to terms with. Personally, I know this deep personal refelction makes me a better person.
It is always a free will choice to submit. This is why the Message of Muhammad was required between Christ and the Messiah, Muhammad taught submission to Allah and His laws. Thus the concept of submission is very strong, what is weak is our choice to do so.
I see my life has changed dramatically over the last 35 years and I would never go back. In saying that, one still makes mistakes, but after the lesson is learned, it becomes a strength that can not again be taken from you.
I now willingly bow on my knees daily, but it was many years after accepting faith before I did so willingly.
The Message of Baha'u'llah is worded strongly and I see that @Trailblazer may be on to something telling it from the hip so to speak, the Tablet of the Temple by Baha'u'llah, does not hold back about the consequence of our failure of turning to God.
".. Erelong shall God draw forth, out of the bosom of power, the hands of ascendancy and might—hands who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name the Self-Subsistent, the Mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might, and how justly doth He wield it! He, verily, ruleth and transcendeth all who are in the heavens and on the earth, and revealeth what He desireth according to a prescribed measure...."
"...O ye wise men of the City and philosophers of the world! Beware lest human learning and wisdom cause you to wax proud before God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Know ye that true wisdom is to fear God, to know Him, and to recognize His Manifestations. This wisdom, however, can be attained only by those who detach themselves from the world, and who walk in the ways of the good pleasure of their Lord....."
Of course, you are free to throw all that out the window. Personally I have chosen to change my ways.
Regards Tony
