“Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.” Genesis 27:8 (NKJV)
The problem with obedience is, of course, that we don’t want to (obey God’s Word, that is). From Adam and Eve’s fateful decision to disobey the command of the Lord, eating from the tree He had expressly forbidden them to eat from, our hearts have rebelled against God’s purposes for our lives–the perpetual conflict between what He wants, and what we want.
Obedience requires something from us, and this is usually something we don’t want to give. Obedience often feels like we are about to step over the edge of a cliff and into the great abyss. Obedience requires courage and faith: courage to overcome our fears and faith that what God has ordained for us is far better than any plan we could have devised.
I am grateful for the grace and mercy of God—not to mention His immeasurable patience, as He has waited for me to realize that I am just not that smart about figuring out what is best for me. As I look back over my life, I am saddened by the many years (and even decades, in some cases) that have been wasted by not implementing the changes God has asked for. It is certainly not because God hasn’t tried to get my attention, or sent people my way with wisdom I didn’t heed, or even that somehow I didn’t understand what He was saying. It was an issue of pride–I thought I knew better. When I was younger, I had no sense of how fast life would pass—no clear revelation that before I knew it, I would so quickly get to be this age. Before I knew it, years had gone by and I still hadn’t dealt with what He had asked me to.
Clearly disobedience to God’s Word has many consequences—some known, but many unintended. There is no way to know what those consequences may be, but God does. His ways always give us better outcomes–not to mention a richer and more fulfilling life.
God, help us to daily walk in Your Ways. Give us obedient hearts. Let us be quick to hear and ready to obey.
“But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’” Jeremiah 7:23 (NKJV)
Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
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Great post! I absolutely love that photo as well. In the New Testament, the Greek word for believe and obey are almost interchangeable. In the NASB translation, John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not OBEY the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” That is a quote from John the Baptist as recorded in the Gospel of John. The fact that this is the last verse in the same chapter containing John 3:16 (arguably the most popular verse in the Bible) makes this verse a little diconcerting…it really amplifies the interpretation of John 3:16. But we must always remember that Christ’s commandments are NOT the Law of Moses…Jesus’ commandments are: love God with all you got and your neighbor as yourself. So to obey Christ is to love God and love those that He also loves! And love is not a feeling; it is an act…1 John 3:16-18…being holy should come naturally as we learn to love; it is impossible to do it the other way around. Many of us have tried (and I’m sure you have too) and failed miserably. When we come to know Jesus which is, in essence, to love Jesus, then we obey as an act of love rather than a mandate and the Law begins to feel a lot like being guided in wisdom. If we try to obey first without knowing Christ and being filled with His Holy Spirit, then it is just religion and entirely too difficult to sustain.
I have heard a lot about obedience lately and I think it might just be a cry for an authentic Christianity in our society today. A poignant post and a blessing as well.
God bless you and yours,
Gideon
Thank you, Gideon. I have been thinking a lot about obedience lately and how we so often approach it as “optional” in the church. You are so right that love is not a feeling, but rather an act of the will. Obedience flows out of our love for Christ, the desire to be more like Him, and our fear of the Lord.
Amen
So true, so true. THIS is mainly what I’ve been writing about…underlying my worry & fears….
So grateful that His grace is sufficient to cover us!
“It was an issue of pride–I thought I knew better.” You absolutely nailed this. Thanks for sharing. You have a seasoned and mature faith and are a blessing. I have often told my children you can do things the easy way, and follow God’s word, or you can do things the hard way, by charting your own course, making mistakes, and then deciding to follow God’s word.
You would think we would be “smart enough” to do things the easy way by following God’s Word, but unfortunately we don’t always do that. I don’t think that my decision to do things in my own way was necessarily always a conscious one. In retrospect, I suspect that many times I thought I was “using my brain” and reasoning out the best course of action. Self-deception is a tricky road to walk and the path not always obvious. Sometimes it is the benefit of age that allows you to look back over past decisions and see with clarity your own stupidity. So grateful for the blood of Christ that was shed for my sin and the grace and mercy of God when I repent.
Good post, Susan. The Lord’s goal is to bless us with Life, which requires faith and obedience. Since the Lord is acting out of love, our response must be from love. I also appreciate Gideon’s reply, who said this very well. The Torah is indeed perfect, but worthless without faith. And Love makes faith and obedience work. Because of the nature of this world and the battle of sin, it sometimes takes us all a while to figure out that the Lord truly does love us. What a wonderful thing it is to know there will always be more grace than sin, and unlimited love from our Creator. Thanks.
Thanks, R.J. I most certainly agree about the love of Christ. If I gave the impression that our obedience should flow from anything else, I was remiss. In the church at large there seems to be much teaching on the love and grace of God. We kind of skim over the faith and obedience part. It was this that I hoped to address with this moment of transperancy.