by David Scott Robertson
"But Samuel replied: 'Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams'" (1 Sam 15:22).
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Obedience is a good thing. It works well for kids who obey their parents, employees who obey their employers and citizens who obey their government's laws. In fact all who humbly submit to those God has placed in authority over them will benefit from their obedient attitude.
Obedience brings reward. Obedience can save your life. Obedience, over time, will result in promotion in nearly every instance.
Nowhere is obedience more vital than in the Christian life.
God has a thing about obedience. Time and again we see examples in the Scriptures where obedience brings the miraculous. More often than not, irrational and ridiculous commands from God designed to build or test faith in order to bring about miracles hinged on an individual's simple obedience:
- Jesus told ten lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. They were healed when they obeyed (Luke 17:14).
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- Jesus told a blind man to go wash mud off his eyes in a pool of water. He was healed when he obeyed (John 9:7).
The prophet Elijah told a widow woman to take her last meal and give it to the prophet. She obeyed and God sustained her through a famine with oil and flour that didn't cease until the famine did (1 Kings 17:13).
- The prophet Elisha told a widow to borrow empty pots from her neighbors and God would fill them with oil to sell to rescue her sons from slavery. She obeyed and she struck oil (so to speak), enough to sell and pay a huge debt (2 Kings 3-5).
- God told Joshua to have his men walk around the city of Jericho seven times and shout. They did and the walls came tumbling down (Hebrews 11:30).
- God told Noah to build an ark to save his family from certain death. He did and they survived the flood (Genesis 6).
These are but a few of billions of examples of how God has honored obedience and converted submission and compliance into miracles.
Many times people adopt an attitude that says, "I won't obey a leader unless I first agree with him or her." This is where we can get into trouble. God always honors obedience and never rewards disobedience. The only exception is when a leader asks you to do something that violates God's rules.
One of the reasons that I firmly believe that King David was referred to in Scripture as "a man after [God's] own heart"(1 Samuel 13:14) was not just that he loved to worship God. Perhaps more important was David's profound understanding of the concept of obedience to authority. David refused to "touch the Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel 24: 12-13) and disrespect authority, namely King Saul.
Obedience is powerful! Partial obedience is disobedience! Delayed obedience is disobedience! If we want to experience the fullness of all that God has for our lives we must become obedient sons and daughters of God.
It seems Mary, the mother of Jesus, was really on to something when she said to the servants at the wedding of Cana in Galilee: "do whatever he [Jesus] tells you" (John 2:5).
Sounds good to me.
"If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God…" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
DSR
8/14/05