Are You an Obedient Christian?
Obedience is an important step of faith that believers take. When Abraham was called to go to Canaan, he obeyed by faith. (Hebrews 11.8) Paul also says that we were freed from sin when we “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine” which delivered to us. (Romans 6.17) Peter also warned that those who do not obey the Gospel will face God’s wrath on the day of judgment. (1 Peter 4.17)
But I realized that not obedience please God. Some Christians, indeed many of us, obey God’s word rather halfheartedly, all the while expecting God to be happy. As if God owes us anything! The truth is obedience to God is for our own benefit. Moses declared this words:
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
- Deuteronomy 5.32, 33
I believe that our obedience must possess certain qualities if it must please God, and I suggest the following:
Obedience must be prompt. How many of us parents get irritated when our children would not obey our commands right away? I believe we make God feel the same way when we procrastinate on His commands. When God reveals His word to us today, He wants us to act on it ‘today’ and not tomorrow.
Obedience must be exact. Exactly. We are not supposed to pick only on Bible instructions that appeal us and ignore the rest. One good illustration would King Saul who was instructed by God to destroy the Amalekites for their sins. Nothing was to be left out, not even animals. After the battle, however, King Saul brought the sheep and cattle alive to be sacrificed to God. God’s anger became evident in the prophet Samuel’s words:
Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.
- 1 Samuel 15.22, 23
Obedience must be courageous. Serving God, to be honest, also means you will be attracting enemies of the Truth to your life. Jesus was honest and comforting when He said that we will be persecuted for His name’s sake. It therefore requires that we must be courageous in the face of persecutions and oppositions. Otherwise, we cannot fully obey God’s Word.
King Saul failed God on this test because, as he said to Samuel, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” (1 Samuel 15.24)
Obedience must be joyful. King David declares, “serve the Lord with gladness.” (Psalm 100.2) And in order for you to obey God’s words joyfully, you first love Him with all your heart.
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