Obedience
A term that one hears since his or her childhood, especially from parents. They say: “Be wise!” and “you must obey if we tell you to do something!” Obedience is an attitude that we ought to have in the most part of our everyday lives, for the rest of our lives. To prove our obedience to someone requires a lot of effort. For instance, it takes discipline for a young child to stay away from that tempting candy lying on the table that he is prohibited to touch! It is evident that this sacrifice will cost him his fleshly desires! However, if he disobeys, he risks being scolded and may disappoint his parents, thereby becoming guilty
Sometimes, to us, obeying God seems too costly or too great of a sacrifice. Let’s take the case of Abraham. At the beginning of the story in Genesis chapter 12:1-5, God asks him to leave everything and everything he has -- his comfortable lifestyle, to go into a country he did not know anything about through God’s guidance and in trust. As a result to his cooperation, God makes him a promise that will bless not only Abraham but his descendants as an inheritance. What motivates him is the fact that he looks to the promise and unfocuses on his sacrifices, as well as the other difficult requirements of him to fulfill such a command. Later on, Abraham has a son named Isaac (in Genesis 22) and God asks him to offer Him up as a sacrifice, which he struggles to do at first. Yet he still obeys the Lord regardless of what he may lose and suffer from.
Very often, when God asks us to follow His instructions that may go against our deep desires, such as: ending a harmful relationship, leaving our comfort zone, changing bad habits, etc., we look at what it is we will potentially lose in obeying him and not on the promises that he will fulfill as a result of our faithfulness to the Lord.
The first act of obedience that Christ asks of us is to acknowledge him as Lord and Saviour and to surrender the entirety of our lives to the Father’s will upon receiving salvation. It is arguably the most difficult action to complete as it implies that we will no longer live for our own selfish reasons, but for he who deserves all the glory. Once this choice is made, God asks us to obey the written Word (the Bible) without compromise. Obviously, we are imperfect, thereby making way for mistakes in obeying his word, which leads to disobedience. Thankfully, God is merciful and gracious in forgiving us our sins if we repent out of a sincere heart. Nonetheless, it does not mean we should take advantage of his kindness and continue in disobedience, in saying: “It is not a big deal. I will willingly sin then ask for forgiveness.” The Bible says that “obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).
In society, it seems to be irrelevant to follow God's commands, but He hopes that we will obey Him consistently in all circumstances, which was demonstrated through Jesus Christ when he fulfilled his Father's perfect will in dying for us sinners.
Obedience is a response to love. When one loves someone, he or she wishes to please them -- to honour his beloved. The love you have for God is naturally shown in obeying him. No matter how much we praise Him, serve Him, pray to Him and adore Him, if we do all of it without righteous obedience, it will all somewhat be in vain. Our disobedience separates us from God and thus, his promises and blessings will depart from us as well. We can also waste a lot of time and suffer for no reason due to rebelling from the Lord. Remember that, what we gain through obeying God is much more valuable than what we lose in the process. God always does things for our good. He loves us dearly and knows exactly who we are and what we need. Now, I would like you to reflect on these questions:
In what areas of life do you struggle to obey? Why in this area particularly and not others? How far are you willing to go to obey God?
I wish to finish this off by sharing with you an experience of mine:
During my senior year of High school, I decided that I absolutely wanted to continue my post-secondary studies outside of my city. So, I looked for programs that matched my interests that were unavailable in the universities in my hometown. I then found one 250 km away from me, but at no point at that time did I ask God for guidance in my schooling and what he wanted to do for my life. I persisted with that program despite the fact that I was unsettled in this decision and completely out of position in what God was planning to do in my life. Extremely anxious, I could no longer sleep well and started to lead a dysfunctional life. It was so bad that I ended up returning home in the middle of the school year. In leaving, I got my life back in order with God, but these long eight months away from the heart of God taught me that we have a lot to lose in deliberately disobeying God and ignoring him.
I will repeat that: God knows you perfectly well and He still loves you! Yes YOU, as if you were the only living being in the entire galaxy.
Be blessed!
#👣