Someone defined obedience as hearing God’s word and acting on it. To act on it, you must have heard it. You can only obey an instruction you’re aware of. When we do not study the scriptures and pray to hear God’s voice, we become ignorant of what He wants us to do. It is one thing to know of an instruction and another to disobey it.
But we know that ignorance is not an excuse. God said His people are perishing because they are ignorant (Hos. 4:6). Ignorance and perishing are not usually far apart from each other.
Obedience starts from things like praying always, showing kindness, being loving to one another and keeping the spirit of unity. Nevertheless, it doesn’t stop there. It also includes giving up your own desires to allow room for the will of God. Obedience is total submission.
Trust and obey
The two go hand in hand. The watchword for every believer is to trust and obey. Trust in the One who gave the word and obey Him till the end. It is only when we are mature in obedience that we can punish disobedience (2 Cor. 2:6).
But there is a reason why the two go together. Obedience says something about our trust in God. Letting God know we trust Him is not by our words alone. Our actions must match up. Obedience to God is one way we can show that we trust Him.
When God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only son, it was a huge demand. Nevertheless, Abraham went ahead with the instruction. He went in obedience to God’s word believing that in some way or the other, God would show for him, either by providing a replacement or raising the boy back to life. This sent a powerful message to God about Abraham’s trust in Him. (Gen. 22: 1-19)
If your trust is not complete, your obedience will also be incomplete. You may even find it hard to be obedient at all. When the Israelites were on their journey to the promised land and they started to get hungry, God sent manna to them.
He gave a simple instruction that each household is to take only what they can finish within that day, except for the day before the Sabbath. However, because the Israelites did not trust God enough, they failed to obey the instruction and ended up suffering for it (Exo. 16: 1-20). They did this not because they outrightly wanted to disobey God but because they had not grown to trust Him up to that level.
Next time you find yourself defaulting in the place of obedience, check your trust level. It may just be that you are not trusting God enough.
Obedience versus sacrifice
To obey, scripture says, is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). This is the problem Christianity is having these days. A lot of believers are undermining the importance of obedience. They want to be workers in the church but refuse to obey the law of love. They want to give alms to the needy but ignore the instruction of fellowshipping with the brethren. They pray and fast and speak in tongues but find it hard to say “Yes Lord”. They give more attention to sacrifices they are making or activities and forget about the place of service and obedience.
There is nothing more pleasant to God than our obedience and submission to Him.
The truth about obedience
The truth is obedience is not always easy. But here’s the thing, this path we have chosen to walk was not promised to be an easy one. God said when you pass through fire, He will be with you (Isa. 43:2). There is nothing easy or pleasant about passing through fire but there is assurance that we won’t be burned (Isa. 43:2).
The end result of that process is always worth it. Moreover, God is not calling us to do something He hasn’t done either. Philippians 2:8 tells us that Jesus was obedient even to the point of death.
The flesh is always in rebellion to the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). The human mind finds it difficult to obey God. But we know that we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). We must remind ourselves of this truth regularly until our minds become trained to obey God’s word at every bidding.
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land”
Isaiah 1 :19 NIV
Partial obedience
Partial obedience is not obedience. When God asked Saul to wipe out the Amalekites, it was a clear instruction. But Saul still chose to spare the lives of some people and animals. The end result of this partial obedience was God rejecting him as king (1 Sam 15: 1-26). A very dire consequence. By God’s scales, disobedience and rebellion are not different.
Sometimes, our disobedience can still bring the desired result, as was the case for Moses with the rock. But that disobedience eventually reveals itself to be a trap.(Num. 20:10-13)
Finally, when it comes to picking between obeying God and man, the obvious choice for any believer is to obey God. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). He is sovereign. Furthermore, the only way we show God that we love Him is by keeping His commandments (Jn. 14:15).
Obedience is non-negotiable in the kingdom. Like every good soldier, we are to obey the command of our leader.
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