What is obedience? Are there consequences of disobedience? What are the rewards of obedience?
Obedience is the act of following instructions. In the life of a Christian, obedience is an act of faith and a choice. You can either decide to obey God or you decide not to obey. God is never pleased when we walk in disobedience and His plan for any of His children will not be fulfilled if that child chooses to walk in disobedience. Walking in disobedience is very common in the lives of Christians. Sometimes it is done willfully and sometimes unknowingly. We disobey God by not loving one another the way we should. Maybe someone has done something to you and you just make up your mind that “I am not just going to love this person.” We disobey God by holding on to our tithes thinking that we have a lot of expenses for the month. So we say to ourselves “this month I just won’t pay my tithe.” Or we disobey God by the things people say to us and we try to rationalise the word of God and they ask us like Satan asked Eve “did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1) This gets some of us thinking and questioning the word of God saying “should we really or should we not?” Most times, when we do this, we tend to walk in disobedience. Sometimes out of fear, we disobey God and in all of these, we are not pleasing God.
If you fall into any of the category mentioned or not even mentioned but you know that your ways are not pleasing to God, you need to repent, ask for forgiveness and turn around. The bible tells us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and He is just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).
When you come to that place when you know that you need the grace of God to walk in obedience, the Holy Spirit will help you. The ability, the grace to walk fully in obedience is available to everyone of us and we need to make that decision to walk in obedience.
Are there consequences of disobedience? Yes. When we walk partially in obedience, is this obedience? No. Saul decided and took it upon himself to disobey God’s order. In 1 Samuel chapter 15, God told him through Samuel to utterly destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3), but out of fear for the people and greed, he decided to spare King Agag and the choicest animals saying to Samuel that they were meant to be used for sacrifice unto God (1 Samuel 15:9 & 15). But Samuel told him thst to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). So thought he obeyed God to a certain extent but he did not obey fully and partial obedience is disobedience. Saul faced God’s wrath because of his disobedience. May we never face God’s wrath. May the grace to fully obey be released upon us everyday of our lives in the name of Jesus.
There are great rewards for obedience. It is sometimes not easy to obey. But when we do obey, we enjoy great rewards. When Abraham decided to obey God, the Bible tells us that he became a friend of God. He obeyed God and was ready, willing to sacrifice his only son, the son he waited to have for so many years. It was an act of faith on his part because he never knew that God was going to provide an alternative for his son and he was at the point of actually sacrificing his son, Isaac when God stopped him. His faith and obedience got him God’s commendation; he became the friend of God. That is what obedience does for us. It brings us to that place where God trusts us and has confidence in us that we would hold nothing back from Him. For this to happen, we must be ready and willing to give God our obedience.
When we walk in obedience, God sets us on high and does not hold anything back from us; His promises, blessings just flow continuously in our lives. Deuteronomy 28 talks about the blessings that will come to us if we fully obey – healing, prosperity and so much more when we obey the Lord. Do you choose today to obey and follow God? Ask for His help because it is not easy. Sometimes, I try to rationalise things that I am required to do. I deliberate and wonder whether or not I am able to do it. I know this is the flesh at work because the Lord expects me to walk in obedience.
There are so many instructions in the Bible with blessings or rewards attached to them. God says be anxious for nothing! This is a commandment. What happens when we obey? When we pray and make our supplications known to God, His peace will fill our hearts and minds in Christ (Philippians 4:6-7). That is the reward for obeying and not being anxious. When the Bible says ask and you will receive, knock and the door will be opened, seek and you will find, these are instructions that we need to take actions on (Matthew 7:7-8). We are expected to obey in order to enter into the promises. If you don’t ask, you will not receive, if you don’t knock, no door will be opened to you and if you don’t seek you would not find anything. To obey is better than sacrifice!
What other instructions are there for us in the Bible? The Bible says love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39). Are you showing love to your neighbour or are you waiting for your neighbour to love you first? Are you finding an excuse not to show love? The Bible says that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This means that God has given you that ability to love. The Bible says husbands love your wives (Ephesians 5:25). Are you loving her or you’re waiting for her to submit before you show her love? Same thing with the wives (Ephesians 5:22). Are you submitting to your husbands or you’re waiting for him to love you first? Are you saying “if he doesn’t love me, I am not going to submit to him.” The Bible says children should honour their father and mother in the Lord (Deuteronomy 5:16). Are you honouring them? Or you’re saying “they are so mean to me!” or “I asked them for something last week and I didn’t get it, so I’m not honouring them'” That is not obedience but utter disobedience and displeasing to God.
May we never face the wrath of God. May the Lord help us as we walk in obedience and as we yield fully to the Holy Spirit, may His blessings fill our lives to overflowing in the mighty name of Jesus.
I trust that you have been blessed. Please leave your comment and share with your friends.
Remain blessed. Shalom!
