Understanding Obedience
Psalm 128:1-4 Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.
Obedience (gk) hupakoe: hupo "under" akouo "to hear" = to be under the hearing of. To subject yourself to the truth.
Obedience requires:
Obedience is the evidence that you believe in God. To obey is to be obedient. It is persuasion of the truth which indicates faith. Obedience is evident, it is displayed in conduct. If you are not submitted to a life of obedience, it limits and can prohibit God's plans for your life to work through you. The enemy, Satan focuses on derailing you from obedience. He wants you to disobey so your life ultimately experiences delay and destruction.
Obedience requires a pure heart. Obedience is the evidence of man believing in God. To obey is to be obedient. It is persuasion of the truth which indicates faith. Obedience is evident. Obedience requires a purposed mind. You must choice to obey. OR ELSE!
Romans 6:16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Jesus as Our Example
Jesus was obedient unto His death: Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Hebrews 5:7-9 7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
The Father and Son Expect Obedience
The Father and the Son both desire and expect obedience from their children (you and I) John 14:15, 21, 23-24 (Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit) 15 "If you love me, keep my commands. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." 23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Obedience Over Sacrifice
*To obey is greater than sacrificing: 1st Samuel 15:22 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than human beings!"
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
Psalm 33:18-19 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 40:6-8 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened—burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."
God's Loves Obedience
John 14:15-17a, 21 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. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." If you love Jesus, you will keep His commands. If we love Jesus we will be loved by the father and Son, and the son Jesus himself will show himself to us.
Did you know that God's love language is obedience. Gary Chapman authored a book: 5 Love Languages
– Words of Affirmation – Quality Time – Physical Touch – Acts of Service – Receiving Gifts
Obedience touches God the most of anything you can give Him. What pleases God the most is when we purpose to live your life to please and honor Him. Obedience brings God joy. God loves all his children but the ones which submit and obey him touch his heart. Understand that you cannot fulfill your destiny, your purposes in God unless you live an obedient life. John 8:31-32 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Deuteronomy 30:15-19 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
Partial Obedience is Disobedience. We see this a lot today as the world programs you to sin and disobey God. People pick and choose what they want to obey and justify what they don't want to obey.
Rewards for Obedience
Leviticus 26 (Reward for Obedience) 1 "'Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God. 2 "'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 3 "'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. 6 "'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. 9 "'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
17 Blessings for Obedience
An Example of Obedience
Daniel 3:28-30 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image 90 ft tall by 9ft wide and summoned all the elites of Babylon for the statue's dedication. His herald proclaimed a command for all people to fall down and worship this image upon the sound of the musical instruments that were to be sounded. If not, whoever disobeyed was to be immediately thrown into a blazing furnace. Astrologers came forward to denounce Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar gets furious as a result, summons the boys and gives them one more opportunity to worship his idol.
The three young men trusted in their God and defied (they challenged the power, they boldly resisted) the King's wicked decree by electing not to bow their knee or fall down to worship this man-made idol / statue.
The question we must ask ourselves; Do I truly trust God as these young men did with their lives? In return for their wholehearted obedience God did the following:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Commandments
Exodus 20 The Ten Commandments And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Evidently these young men were well aware of the law of Moses and clearly understood the consequences for disobedience.
In Conclusion
Obedience has to do with decision making which has to do with conduct. Obedience comes with rewards. Obedience has to do with commitment, reliability, faithfulness, it is a statement and picture of your belief. Don’t miss out on all the beautiful blessings that come from living an obedient life. The Lord Jesus Christ is madly in love with you desiring your heart. Surrender your heart today and obey his teachings! Live life victoriously in Jesus great name!
