What is obedience? Why is it important?

Obedience is choosing to follow God’s commands at all times. If you want to experience the life God has for you, you must obey Him above all else. Obeying God and maintaining a healthy prayer life keeps you connected to God and walking in His ways daily. God has an amazing plan for our lives, but if we’re not worshipping Him through obedience and relationship, we find ourselves lost in sin and susceptible to losing our Christian flavor.

In 1 Samuel 16, the Bible shows us, through two men’s relationships with God, just how important it is to revere the Lord through our obedience.

Samuel was the miracle baby of Hannah and Elkenah. Hannah had prayed that if the Lord healed her barren womb, she’d dedicate the child back to Him. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah did as she promised God and brought Samuel to the temple to be raised by Eli.

Because of his mother’s act of obedience, Samuel lived an extraordinary life for God. He was the judge over the Israelites. In Judges, the Bible explains that judges were men and women appointed by God to protect and lead the nation of Israel. However, the people rejected Samuel and demanded that they become like every other nation. They wanted a king to rule over them, not a judge appointed by God.

Samuel took the people’s petition to the Lord, and the Lord answered the people’s stubbornness and desire to conform to the world.

God told Samuel, in 1 Samuel 8:22, to give the Israelites a king. And that king was Saul.

However, Saul yielded to his own flesh and sinful nature. He did not follow God, nor obey Him as Samuel did.

Scripture tells us that, because of Saul’s disobedience, he lost all authority and power he had on Earth and became “yesterday’s king.” Yet, Samuel was still obedient and reverent to God and remained “today’s man.”

Perhaps you are torn between desiring to be like everybody else (as the Israelites and Saul were) and desiring to obey God?

The Bible is very clear that Christians who conform to this world and try to fit in will “lose their flavor.” In Matthew 5:13, Jesus clearly says, “You are the salt of the Earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

The enemy would like nothing more than for grace to lose its flavor in your life, so that you will walk out of church and be like everybody else, or to go to a church that’s like every other church. Jesus was saying that when we try to be like others, we become good for nothing. Therefore, as long as we are alive, we should reflect what God’s Word says, so that we can be like Samuel and remain relevant for God’s mission.

And how do we do that?

By being in God’s Word daily and communicating with Him, we understand how to obey Him in all things.

You see, it’s our obedience, not our position or our title, that determines our longevity. If we wish to experience all the goodness, love, and mercy God has for us, we must be willing to humble ourselves, dive into His Word, constantly take our thoughts and requests to Him, and consistently obey His commands.

Then, and only then, will we experience the fullness of the amazing plan God has for our lives.

I want you to reflect on and be encouraged by that biblical truth, this week.

 

Living in Grace and Peace,

Dr. Grier

Click here to read the message notes: Yesterday’s King, Part 1

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