Obedience

 

            Obedience and our attitude toward it, truly denote the spiritual aptitude and direction we are going.  We cannot be a good Christian without obedience. Romans 6:16 and 17 says, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

 

                Saul lost the kingdom because he did not obey the Lord.  I Samuel 15:22 says, "And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams." 

 

I. Obedience is Following the Lord Completely.

                Logically, it made sense to Saul that God would be proud of him for not killing the livestock that God had directed, but rather that he save it to sacrifice to the Lord.  It was after this deduction that God informed Saul that partial obedience is synonymous with disobedience.

 

                Not following the Lord cost Israel a forty-year detour. Numbers 32:11 and 12 says, "Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD." 

 

                Following the Lord is not conditional.  It is not to be done, if convenient.  It is not to be accomplished if we like the orders.  Listen to the heart of God as He tells His friend, Abraham, "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;"  (Genesis 22:16, 17).  And as we see, blessing awaits those who follow the Lord completely!

 

II. Obedience is Doing Right in the Dark

                The youth David was placed in charge of taking care of the sheep for his Dad.  He had two harrowing episodes. "And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him." (I Samuel 17: 34, 35).

 

                There was no one around to applaud David when he did these two righteous deeds, it was the lonely and dark night, but he did right when there was no one around to reinforce it.

 

III. Obedience Becomes Perpetual if Intrinsically Motivated.

                Romans 6:17 says, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."  We see from this Scripture the key to continual obedience is when we obey from the heart, i.e., obeying God because we love Him and don’t want to disappoint Him.  Doing right because someone is twisting our arm behind our backs is not going bring long lasting obedience.

 

                Joseph was set up as the steward and protector of Pharaoh’s man, Potipher.  The wicked woman of the household tried to defile this young Hebrew prince, but he showed his valour and true color in Genesis 39:9, when Joseph said, "There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

 

                For Joseph there was no such thing as situational ethics.  If it was wrong in Israel, it was wrong in Egypt.  His love to God did not wane with the switching of the wind.  Someone asked Michaelangelo why he was giving so much detail to portions of the Sistine chapel that would not be seen.  So since it was not seen, does it really matter?  He replied, “But I would know”.  God would know and he would know.  He also said, “Trifle's make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”

 

                We will obey God consistently, if we love Him and know He is watching.

 

-Pastor Pope-