Obedience

When Pastor Ari approached me to speak at the women's lunch, I will be honest, every part of me wanted to say NO. Every excuse came to mind, such as: I don’t like speaking in public, I don’t know the Bible well enough, what if I say something wrong? What if I don’t know what to say? What if what I say is irrelevant? It even passed through my mind what if I don’t hear the Lord

tell me what to talk about, and I’ll have to just figure it out on my own? Will

they figure out I was a fraud. But when I opened my mouth to respond, “yes” came out. I’ve always prided myself on not letting my fears hold me back. So, whether it's heights, fish, or public speaking, I would do it. I always tell my boys the best way to overcome fear is to overcome the uncomfortable. To get comfortable in the uncomfortable. When I said yes, I realized that moment I

Obedience is:

To comply with the command, direction, or request of (a person or a law);

submit to the authority of:

to carry out: a command or instruction

behave in accordance with a general principle and natural law.

For Christians, obedience is not merely following rules but trusting God’s

wisdom and aligning your life with His will. Obedience can sound like a very

heavy, intimidating word, but simply, it means doing what God's word says

because we trust that his way is better than ours. It’s not a way to earn his

love because we already have it; it’s our response to his grace towards us.

In Deuteronomy 5:33 it says, “Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your

God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong

your days in the land that you will possess.”

needed to listen to what the Lord wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. That is

what we are called to do as Christ's followers. Even if it is difficult and we

don’t want to. We are called to obey.

Now, before we dive into what obedience looks like for us or what

The Bible says about it, it is important to first know the definition, the dictionary says:

In the bible, Obedience is considered essential in our relationship with God.

It involves surrendering our will to His and following his commands.

Obedience is a demonstration of love and trust in God and brings blessing

and favor. God wants us in our free will to choose His will. He’s not going to

make us serve Him; he’s not going to make us believe. He’s not going to

make us do what’s right, but he does tell us what we should do, and then

he wants us to do it willingly. God didn’t promise it would be easy, but he

did promise He would be with you every step of the way.

We can give Him the first hour of our morning, read the Bible, and spend time

with Him. We can be going to church every Sunday; we can be doing all the

“Christians” things, sacrificing things for the Lord, spending time serving in

the church, but if the Lord is telling you to do something specific and you’re not

doing it, then you are not obeying God. Some people would call this being a

Lukewarm Christian. But what is a lukewarm Christian?

It is:

1. You want Jesus to forgive you but not correct you. You love grace, but

avoid conviction. Jesus said in Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me lord,

lord and do not do what say” We love Jesus as a savior, a savior is

easy, savior forgives, savior rescues, but Jesus as Lord, that’s harder,

Lord means He gets a say, Lord means surrender, Lord means

obedience even when it costs you.

2. God fits into your life but doesn’t direct it. You pray when

things go wrong but make decisions without asking him. Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the Lord

with all your heart and he will make your paths straight.” This means we need to be praying

to God for all our decisions and then waiting for his response.

3. You feel conviction but don’t change direction. You know what God is

asking you to stop, you know what God’s asking you to start, but you stay comfortable.

James 1:22 “do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.”

When God is telling us to do something, we need to listen and act. The Savior forgives, the

Lord transforms. Jesus didn’t just come to save us from hell; He came to lead us into life,

and He’s not asking for perfection. He’s asking for surrender. Stop ignoring the conviction

and respond to it, because Jesus doesn’t want just part of our life; He wants all of it.

Kids experience the terrible twos, where they tell adults no or ask why when

they are being told what to do. During the teenage years, they push

back on everything said to them. Most of them believe they know all and don’t need to be

told what to do, but kids aren’t telling, being told what to do because adults are trying to

control them, or not to have any fun, they are being directed because we as adults, have

been there, we have done that. We want what’s best for them, we want to see them succeed

and thrive in life. We love our children unconditionally, even when they mess up and

make mistakes. So why is it when it comes to obeying God, we all struggle?

The Lord is our father. And the frustrations we feel over our children who

are not listening or obeying us are the same frustrations the Lord feels for

us. He sees the path in front of us; he knows what’s best for us, and yet we

are still fighting him and asking him why? We act as if we know better than

him. When God is giving us instructions, it does not always come with a full explanation; it comes as a test of trust. Many times, He speaks before it makes sense because obedience

will reveal what logic cannot see. When Abraham left his home, he did not

know where he was going, but he did know who was leading him. The

direction became clear as he walked, and the same way clarity will show up

in your life after obedience, not before it. God’s waiting on your obedience

to get you on the track He has for your life, and He won’t give divine

direction to someone who keeps choosing convenience and comfort before

obedience. If we stay in our comfort zone, we will not grow with Christ. We

need to submit to the Voice of God even when it’s uncomfortable. When it

doesn’t make sense, or it costs you money, when it goes against

your pride, against your reputation, or against your plans and visions. What is coming is bigger than what you’ve been praying for; He knows your current habits not only won’t be able to sustain the plan He has for you but might destroy them. Your discipline determines which door opens next for you in your life.

Every act of obedience becomes a quiet declaration that He is King and that His way, not ours, leads to life. Be honest, we don’t like obedience; it moves us out of our comfort and convenience, it breaks our flesh, and we don’t like to tell ourselves no, we don’t want discipline, we don’t want boundaries. We want to pick and choose what we believe. Humans don’t struggle with believing in God, but we struggle with trusting God when He says, no, not yet, or wait.

One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn so far in my walk with Christ is

that obedience to God is not the outcome of the situation, but about the act

of surrendering. Obedience to God requires a life adjustment; you don’t just incorporate what God says into your life as an extra add-on, you have to adjust your life to His will. God asks us to obey Him, but it’s not for Him. It’s for us, when we obey Him and worship Him, He doesn’t grow into a

stronger form of God, but we grow in our relationship with Him.

So, how do we go about obeying God? What does that look like for us in

everyday life.

Luke 9:23” If any of you want to be my follower, you must give

up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me.”

A lot of people say, “I follow Jesus in my own way; everybody believes

in God in their own way.” Honestly, I was one of them in my early

walks with Christ. God clearly says you have to give up your way and

follow him. Obedience is not optional for a follower of Jesus. It is a natural

response of a heart transformed by grace.

We are called to be obedient with our minds. 2 Corinthians 10 :5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We are called to be obedient with our talents

1 Peter 4:10 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” We are called to be obedient with our bodies, Romans 12:1: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true

and proper worship.”

Being grateful for all we have been given

Being good stewards of what God has given us, even in the small, everyday

tasks like dishes and laundry

Falling in love with God daily, this includes reading your bible, praying, and worshipping, spending time building a relationship with God. Waking up every day with the conscious decision to listen to God when he speaks to you and do it.

The Holy Spirit is talking to us daily, telling us and prompting us to do things.

Sometimes the Lord doesn’t need us to say anything, the simple actions

alone can show God’s love to a stranger, and God will do the rest.

The Lord’s prompting for us and the directions are not going to

be some grand gesture, and most of the time, you won’t always see the

miracle once you do what he’s telling you to do. You also don’t know

what a simple gesture does for another person. God sees more and knows more than we do, and the Lord uses us and talks to us not only for our own good but for others.

I want to end by saying, God has chosen you, and God wants you to thrive and

succeed in life. He wants what’s best for you and wants to give you all the

blessings he has promised. You are good enough; you are worthy enough.

You are his child, and He loves you. You need to walk by faith, not by

feelings, and experience the goodness of God and His love towards you.