OBEY AND BE BLESSED!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 29, 2024.

SUBJECT: OBEY AND BE BLESSED!

Memory verse: "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." (Isaiah 1 vs 19.)

READ: Deuteronomy 30 vs 15 - 16: 

30:15: See, I have set before You today life and good, death and evil, 

30:16: in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgements, that you may live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.

INTIMATION:

Being obedient is submitting to authority; to comply with orders—the practice of doing what one is told. Obedience to God is doing the Will of God, and willingness to forsake all that are outside God’s Will. True obedience is willingness to obey commands from the heart. Heartless obedience of law is worthless before God. His laws are written in the Bible and are clearly evident in the world around us. Obeying them is reasonable, sensible, and beneficial. We could expect blessings when we conduct ourselves according to the moral principles of God. The most difficult part of obeying God’s laws is simply deciding to start now.

Not being obedient is, in my considered opinion, disagreeing with God, and consequently, refusing to access the promises and blessings of God. The Scripture likened disobedience to rebellion and stubbornness to God. Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins. They involve far more than being independent and strong-minded. Scriptures equates them with divination (witchcraft) and idolatry (First Samuel 15 vs 23). 

Rebellion against God is, perhaps, the most serious sin of all because as long as a person rebels, he or she closes the door of forgiveness and restoration with God. Christians today always make rituals of going to church, taking communion, serving in units, paying tithes etc. But these activities are empty if our reasons for doing them are selfish. 

God doesn't want our sacrifices and offerings without an attitude of devotion (obedience) to Him. The prophet Samuel told Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (First Samuel 15 vs 22). All we should do is to give God the obedience and lifelong service He desires from us, and the promises of God and the provisions thereto, are all ours.

The Christian rituals are not bribes to make God overlook our character faults. All God wants is our sincere faith and devotion. The Christian rituals ought to be outward sign of an inward faith in God. Many today have come to place more faith in the rituals of their religion than in God they worship. God does not take pleasure in your outward expressions if your inward faith is missing (Hosea 6 vs 6). Though religious rituals can help people understand God and nourish their relationship with Him, but they are helpful only if it is carried out with an attitude of love and obedience to God.

Have you ever said you would obey God if you know what He wanted? Have you ever complained that obedience is too difficult for a mere human? These are unacceptable excuses. All God’s laws are good, and are for our benefit in obedience (See Deuteronomy 28 vs 1 - 13). The strength to obey comes from our relationship with God, who is also the source of our strength for; “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4 vs 13). The power we receive in union with Christ is sufficient to do His Will and to face all challenges that arise from our commitment to doing it. 

Prayer: Abba Father, trust and obedience to Your Word is the only access to Your promises and provisions. Strengthen me, O Lord, with the spirit of raw obedience to You and Your Word, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!