What is obedience?

Obedience is doing God’s will, God’s way, in God’s time. Doing what God says, when He says it and How God says it.  This means acting on the will, the way that it has been revealed to you at exactly when you are mandated to act, not at your convenience or when you have no other choice but to…

John 14:15 says, “If you love me, obey my commands.” (MSG: If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you). Love and obedience seem to go together, hand in hand. When we obey God, we are communicating love to Him.

1 Sam 15:22-23 NLT the bible tells us this:

22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord:
    your burnt offerings and sacrifices
    or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
    and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
    and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
    he has rejected you as king.” 

Do you think God would rather have we worship or obey Him? To obey is better than any sacrifices you will ever make. God would rather we obey Him than see us do religious stuff with enormous passion. Let me tell you how this disobedience would look for you and me in today’s life:

  • When we are chasing righteousness to avoid obedience, we are actually sacrificing. We think we can bribe God by being good in order to avoid doing what He asks of us. But God is not fooled by these acts. He can see right through us.
  • When we edit the commands to suit our lifestyles and cultures and situations we are being disobedient.

But verse 23, of 1 Sam 15 tells us how God views our disobedience, He views it as rebellion which He equates to witchcraft, our stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. Because truly that is the choice we are making. When we choose to do one thing over what God is instructing us to do, whatever we choose we are glorifying over Him.

He says in Duet 12:28 “Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the Lord your God.” This means an obedient life to God has positive generational impact. When we obey God, it benefits our families, and our children for generations to come. Also, obedience is pleasing to God. Why then do we struggle with obedience?

This is a personal journey I am going through, learning to be obedient and yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I am not always getting it right but I can tell you I experience the joy for every step I take towards the right direction and I experience the rewards, in the same breath I experience what happens when I don’t obey as God continues to guide me. He knows how to get my attention and we are starting to connect a lot more because I am yearning, present and aware.

Disobedience has a high price, I wont lie to you. Like with obedience the impact of our disobedience has generational impact. God has shown us this in Duet 28. If knowing that God is experiencing love through our obedience does not move you, I hope reading Duet 28 will open your eyes as it has mine.

My prayer for you and me is for surrender, total surrender to Christ. For God to take complete control of our lives and help us. I pray that God breaks every chain that binds us. May He renew our minds and continue to work in us as we pursue complete surrender and obedience in Jesus name, Amen.

Blessed Thursday to you!

#quenchmythirst #thirstythursday