Obedience…that is a word that you seldom hear being used anymore to describe an interactive relationship between people.  We live in a society where it is “man for himself”, “I can do anything that I want”, or “I don’t have to answer to anyone”.  There is no accountability when it comes to our thoughts, actions or simply the way that we live our lives today.

Obviously, God did not make us to be or to live like robots, hence, He gave us free will, however, His desire for us is to live in obedience to Him and His Word.  Obedience as defined by some people can mean an action to a set of rules. However, God’s desire for our obedience is the obedience of our hearts to Him.  The reason why God desires our obedience is threefold:

1. He knows what is best for us
2. He wants us to experience all that He has for us
3. He wants to bless us

In addition, our obedience helps to build a stronger relationship with Christ.  As we grow closer to Christ, our hearts desire will be to become more like Christ and to do things which please Him that will in return strengthen our relationship with God.

Here are three reasons for our obedience to God:

1. It shows our faith…When we are obedient to God it shows that we have total faith in what He has done, is doing and will be doing in our lives.
2. It shows our love for Christ…in John 14:21 it reads, “He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him”.  Our obedience is a true test of our love for Christ
3. It shows that God is important… Our obedience can also serve as a witness for God and the Gospel.   Our obedience can show that God is worthy, valuable, trustworthy, good, wise and very important to our lives.  Obedience can actually win over those to Christ who are simply observing the obedience of the saved.  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven…Matthew 5:16

God does not desire our obedience simply because He can or it’s the “in” thing to do.  God desires our obedience because that is the way He communicates with us, develops and strengthens our relationship with Him and it is how he chooses to bless us. We must remember that our obedience is our love language and gift to God.   In addition, it is thru the obedience of Christ to the cross that we are now right-standing with God with the hope of eternal life.

Sharing in God’s Love,

Tamela