Saturday, June 19: Obedience

Teaching tennis certainly has given me a better grasp of obedience, particularly when it comes to children. When I draw a proverbial line and instruct the children not to cross that line, instantaneously, someone is going to test me. With the ensuing step nearing the line, the challenger keeps a watchful eye on me to see if I will ignore the challenge or react as promised. Additionally, bystanders focus keenly on the situation to glean information for their future challenges to my authority. My initial reaction will set the tone instantly. Whether or not we choose to acknowledge it, all of us do better once we know the rules.


Though this resembles our relationships with God, there is a major difference. Unlike us, when God draws a line, He will not threaten punishment or ramification and then choose to forget or ignore what He said. In human relationships, we are told to choose our battles, as sometimes those battles are simply not worth it. Yet God cannot change; nor should He, as He is perfect. So when God gives us instructions or commandments, they are based on His perfect knowledge of what is best for us. If an atheist followed the commandments of the Lord, even his life would benefit from that obedience.


Obedience has been defined as carrying out the word and will of another person, particularly, the Word and will of God. Henry Ward Beecher said, “True obedience is true freedom.”


22 So Samuel said:
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
 1 Samuel 15:22

God’s greatest desire for us is our obedience, as it is a demonstration of our love for Him. Jesus said, if you love Me, obey My commandments (John 14:15). One of the ways that God demonstrates His love for us is through His discipline. If He simply ignored our failures and sins, it would reflect that He didn’t desire for us to improve, and in so doing, draw closer to Him and His ways.


5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
Hebrews 12:5-9


Discipline is never easy to endure. Can you imagine how it broke the heart of Moses to not get to enter into the Promised Land, because he disobeyed the Lord by striking the rock rather than speaking to it to produce water in the wilderness? (Numbers 20:11) Yet when Moses brought the situation up to God, the Lord told Moses not to mention it again (Deuteronomy 3:26). Are there situations in your life where you are choosing not to listen to the commandments of the Lord? All of us have problematic areas, whether it is pride, gossip, sexual immorality, deceitfulness or a variety of other sins. Though we continue to struggle with sin, the repetitious sins demonstrate an unwillingness to listen.


We know that the joy of the Lord is our strength and that one of the greatest gifts He has given His children is the peace that passes all understanding. If you are walking in disobedience, the joy and peace will evade you until you choose to obey Him. God provided us all with the rule book, called the Holy Bible. With 613 commandments in the Bible, we all know what He expects. He even sees our motives, so it doesn’t make much sense to challenge Him. Do you want to be happy? Obey Him!


“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
 Job 5:17