Since obedience can be so hard at times, how can we learn to do it? This devotion encourages us to be taught by the Master Teacher.
Nuggets
- David taught us how to approach God and for what to ask.
- God is teaching us about Himself and His ways.
- Only God is going to be able to teach us His Will, which He does through the Holy Spirit.
- We’ve got to take obedience to the next level and do it, not just hear it.
To read a devotion in the What Is Obedience? series, click on the button below.
God Teaches Us Obedience
When I was in my Philosophy of Education class, I was taught that, in Eastern philosophy, students would seek out “the best” teacher from whom to learn. They wanted to make sure that they learned all that they could.
Shouldn’t we want the same thing when we look to learn about obedience. Shouldn’t we go to the Master?
Let's Put It into Context
“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you” (Ps. 143: 8 NLT)
David was in the middle of a crisis — again. So, he wrote this psalm.
The first part is all about what David is experiencing. The last part is all about God.
Now, this Psalm doesn’t talk about obedience — at all. But, to me, it shows us how God does teach us to obey His laws and commandments. Let’s see if you agree with me.
Who Teaches Us What?
“Teach me to do your will …” (Ps. 143: 10 NLT).
David taught us how to approach God. We come to Him humbly and sincerely.
David also taught us for what to ask. One thing that is evident is that this great king didn’t even pretend to know everything.
Bottom line is David wanted to be more like God. He wanted to follow God’s plan. So, David wanted God to teach Him.
God is not only the Teacher, but He is also teaching us about Himself and His ways. David asked to learn His Will.
Maclaren wrote, “But the main burden of his prayer is for a closer knowledge of God, the sound of His lovingkindness in his inward ear, light to show him the way wherein he should walk, and the sweet sunshine of God’s face upon his heart.”
Did that melt you like it did me? Knowledge. Love. Light. Sunshine. Isn’t that what we are supposed to want? Prayer and obedience gives us that.
God’s Will is for us to follow His laws and commandments. His Will is for us to be obedient.
Knowledge of God shows us how we are to live our lives. We are called to imitate Him.
We know we learn in the struggle of trying to be obedient. I wonder if it saddens God that we so many times ask Him to take away those struggles.
We just want them gone. Better yet, we don’t want them to show up in the first place.
God teaches us to submit. We can’t do that on our own. Our human nature is generally taught that we should be independent. We need Him to teach us how to do it right.
Why Go to God’s School?
“… for you are my God …” (Ps. 143: 10 NLT).
A couple of paragraphs back we said that David didn’t even pretend to know everything. He knew, however, to Whom to go.
But look what David called God — my God. He made this personal — relational.
David went to God because He was … well … God. David could feel God’s love for him. He knew He was Creator and holy. He knew God was love.
God knows all that has happened before, all that is happening now, and all that will happen in the future. He allows it to happen.
Why wouldn’t David go to the all-powerful God? Why wouldn’t he go to the best?
Only God is going to be able to teach us His Will. He does that through the Holy Spirit.
Guidance by the Holy Spirit
“… May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing” (Ps. 143: 10 NLT).
I think I am going to be a broken record whenever we talk about obedience. We’ve got to take it to the next level and do it. We can’t just hear it.
Maclaren said, “Action, not thought, is the end of God’s revelation and the perfecting of man.” That is what “… lead mean forward …” (Ps. 143: 10 NLT) means to me.
We have to be practicing obedience to God’s Will. How do we learn the most? Many of us are hands-on learners. You can talk us to death, and we think we have a clue. But it isn’t until we get in the lab or in the project where things really start clicking.
Where is our lab with God? In the middle of the trials. Ouch. I know. Those hurt a lot of times.
We learn faster when doing something. It sticks with us longer.
Saxton made a good point. He said, “The more we do what we have been taught, the more will the Lord our God reveal to us of His will.” Think of this along the foundation line of thinking.
We start out small in the obedience area. That may be because the trust area is low.
We trust God and we obey. That feels pretty good. It boosts our confidence.
Here comes another temptation — a little more involved this time. Repeat — trust, obey, confidence.
Pretty soon, we have a good foundation. We know that however hard and scary the temptation is, God won’t leave us and will help us through it.
We don’t have to feel like we are alone — because we aren’t. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Making the Connections
Adam is taking a capstone course for app design this semester. It wasn’t offered, so he is taking it by directed study. Basically, what that means is he is responsible for the work without having regular class attendance. He does, however, have access to the instructor (who is one of the best).
Adam ran into a snag last week. He contacted the instructor, and they exchanged emails trying to work out his problem. Yesterday, they met in person and got it ironed out.
If you are like me, we really like having that access to the instructor. We can learn on our own, but we like someone there to answer our questions when we run into a snag.
Sometimes, we may not see that what is in the Bible is in black and white. We may see some gray in it.
Who better to go to than the Master Teacher who wrote the laws and commandments?
We are called to obey God’s Will — actively obey. If it says love, we have to love. If it says honor the sabbath, we attend church. If it says don’t lie, we don’t lie.
It isn’t just the hearing. It is also the doing.
The bottom line is we have to be obedient in doing God’s Will. We have to consciously decide to submit to Him.
We have to be all in when we obey God. We have to be consistent and not hesitate.
God will teach us what He wants and how He wants us to do it.
How Do We Apply This?
We start out by praying David’s prayer. Next, we seek God. Then we do what God tells us to do.
“Teach [us] to do your will, for you are [our] God. May your gracious Spirit lead [us] forward on a firm footing” (Ps. 143: 10 NLT).
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17 NLT).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3 ESV).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16 ESV).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11 NLT).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11 NLT).
To read Has God Provided Everything We Need?, click the button below.
What do you think?
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I liked what you said about learning obedience from the master. My word of the year is OBEY, so this post was very relevant to me. Thanks for sharing.
Great! Isn’t it wonderful how the Master connects dots for us and puts stuff in our paths to help forward His work in us? He will provide!
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