Obedience

https://odb.org/2024/11/18/obedience-is-a-choice

We know from the narrative on Saul with Samuel on the offering of the sacrifice to the LORD that obedience takes precedence over sacrifice. In that incident, Saul’s men were pestering him to go out for battle, but Saul wanted to offer a sacrifice unto God first. It was perhaps as a means of seeking God’s protection. However, Samuel, the prophet who was also a priest and a judge, was late, and Saul couldn’t wait. So he took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself. This was prohibited as only a priest could do so. As a result, God was furious and replaced him as king of Israel. It was not this single incident that led to Saul’s downfall but a series of character flaws. But that’s a story for another day.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught obedience in another way. He said, “If you love Me, obey Me.” Basically, to love Christ is to obey Christ and His Word. But we will have the Holy Spirit to help us along.

John 14 NIV: 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world can not accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Thus, do we obey out of fear of repercussions or due to a sense of duty? Or do we make the choice to obey out of love? Actually, the former motivations are OK because the end result is still obedience. But the latter, as taught by our Lord, is the best. If we obey out of love, we will likely be able to obey much more. It is also part of putting the Kingdom of God first as our obedience stems from our motivation to put God first in all that we do.

Obedience is not natural, though. Our flesh will rebel. But as we start on obedience, we will find that we can obey more and more and, in the process, become more and more Christ-like.

Have a good week ahead, everyone! I pray that the wisdom and the knowledge of God will be upon each and every one of us as we deal with the issues at work and in life! May the LORD our God grant us completion and finality in the things we do for Him and at work!