What is one of the first things that pop up when we think about self-discipline? We don’t discipline ourselves to follow all of God’s laws and commandments all the time. This devotion looks at what obedience is from God’s perspective.
Nuggets
- God is Sovereign God and expects our obedience.
- God gives us laws and commandments to follow.
- God’s laws and commandments are true because they came from Him.
- We have to let God’s Word — His laws and commandments — change our character.
- Obeying God’s laws and commandments does bring us rewards.
While some may say it is too difficult to obey all of God’s laws and commandments, others may question why we are being obedient to Him in the first place.
Let's Put It into Context
“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to you. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and you are exalted as head over all” (I Chron. 29: 11 CSB)
God is Sovereign God. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.
God created “… everything in the heavens and on earth …” (I Chron. 29: 11 CSB). That means He made us.
Instead of forcing His rule on us, God allows us free will to choose to submit to Him. When we do submit to Him, He expects obedience.
Devotions in the What Is Obedience? series
What Is Obedience?
What Is Obedience?
“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome” (I Jn. 5: 3 NLT).
Obedience means “to hear God’s Word and act accordingly” (Holman Bible Dictionary). We think of the word obey, but there are several words that the Bible uses: hear, listen, and trust.
We are supposed to respond in faith and do God’s Will. In other words, hearing alone is not good enough. We have to put into practice what God is telling us. This is one way we worship God.
God gives us laws and commandments to follow. These are stated in the Bible. They not only tells us how we should and should not act, but they also tell us of God’s character.
Melvill made an interesting statement. He said, “we naturally look to the New Testament for additional motives rather than for additional commandments.”
The Old Testament was all about telling us what the laws and commandments were. The New Testament was all about calling us to obey those laws and commandments and giving us reasons to do so. We obey by loving God.
Remember, Jesus said that the greatest commandment was “… Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt. 22: 37 NIV). That is our priority
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Why did Jesus pick that one (and love your neighbor)? “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands” (Mt. 22: 40 CSB). It all boils down to love for God.
If we love God, our obedience stems from that love. If we love God, we are going to want to please Him. Keeping the laws and commandments expresses that love.
Delight in the Law
“Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live, for your instructions are my delight” (Ps. 119: 77 NLT).
Let’s think about it this way. God’s Word is true. God never changes. He doesn’t lie.
That means God’s laws and commandments are true because they came from Him.
When mankind originally disobeyed Him, God could have written us off. He could have closed the door and not had anything to do with us ever again. Or worse, He could have just killed us.
Instead, God showed us mercy. Mercy is the unexpected way God responds in love to our needs. “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lam. 3: 23 NLT). He gives us mercy every day.
This is especially so when we are obedient to God. His mercies protect us.
It’s not a bad thing to want God’s mercies. It’s not a bad thing to want more of His mercies. When we do that, we are wanting more of Him in our lives. That is a good thing.
But look what it is really saying (Cowper). “Because I delight in your instructions, give me more mercy.” Because I am obedient, reward me. I don’t want to sin.
We don’t see obedience as a license to sin in other instances. “Well, I mostly get it right, so God is going to ignore this sin.” Doesn’t work that way.
Obedience to God means we are all in. We try to obey all of His laws and commandments.
Obedience Required
“Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts” (Ps. 119: 2 NLT).
We are charged to obey God’s laws. Yes, we are rewarded, but this is how we seek Him.
In order to obey God, we have to search His Word. But His words can’t just stay on the pages of the book or the screen of whatever device we use.
We’ve got to bury God’s Word in our hearts. I know, we’ve talked several times about how hard it is to memorize. It is more than that.
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).
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We have to let God’s Word — His laws and commandments — change our character. We have to let them help us to imitate Him.
That means we have to believe what we are reading. We have to really dive into the Bible. It has to increase our faith.
I like having a strategic plan. When I went on my first retreat, I developed a new one for my life. Okay, some of the things have worked out; some have to go to a different year’s operational plan. But it is a guide.
The Bible is like that in a way, but not. It is our guide. It shows us how we are to work to become holy and righteous.
Obeying God’s Word is not optional. Some things don’t give us wiggle room. There is no fudging with God’s laws and commandments. Millard said, “We must take it as the guide of our daily conduct, as the inspiration of thought and emotion, as the determining factor in our daily actions, as the light to lead us along life’s dark and difficult ways, As the food upon which the soul is nourished it must affect all our thought and feeling, speech and action; it must penetrate to the remotest corners of our life and give form and colour and character to every experience.” It has to permeate our lives.
The Value of Obedience
“Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver” (Ps. 119: 72 NLT).
Obeying God’s laws and commandments does bring us rewards. Now, we are going to get into some of the benefits obedience brings in another series.
For now, let’s look at a this. Dunlop and the Homilist give us lists of things that are upgraded for us — but not from the world’s perspective.
- Food: “‘I am the bread of life,’ Jesus told them. ‘No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again’” (Jn. 6: 35 CSB).
- Clothes: “I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban” (Job. 29: 11 CSB).
- Friends: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (Jan. 15: 15 NIV).
- Homes: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14: 2 KJV).
- Culture: “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (Jn. 8: 36 NLT).
- Power: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (II Tim. 1: 7 CSB).
- Higher enjoyments: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15: 13 CSB).
- A higher world: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 NIV).
Wow! All of that because we are obedient!
Don’t get me wrong. We need money for food, clothing, and homes in today’s world. It isn’t wrong to pursue earning a living — as long as we keep God as top priority of those lives.
Making the Connections
“Jesus replied, ‘But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice’” (Lk. 11: 28 NLT).
Again, it comes down to knowing the laws and commandments and obeying them. We can read and read and read. Head knowledge won’t get us too far.
We have to put what we read into practice — we have to obey.
Our joy and blessings come from believing Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Yes, that is the B of our ABCDs.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
How Do We Apply This?
We don’t want to be like the one type of soil in Jesus’ parable. “The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word” (Mk. 4: 16-17 NLT).
We have to hear to be saved, but we have to do everything God calls us to do. “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves” (Jas. 1: 22 NLT). Obedience calls for action.
We have to seek God to learn what He is calling us to do. Then we have to put it into practice.
Loving Father. You have given us laws and commandments to show us Your character. Help us to obey them so that we can imitate You. Accept our obedience as our worship of You. Amen.
What do you think?
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