Jesus Christ He was the most extraordinary example of obedience to our Heavenly Father. He said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). He devoted his entire life to obeying his Father with devotion even though it was not always easy for Him; he was tempted in every way like other mortal beings (see Hebrews 4:15). “In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed to His Father, saying: “…My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; but not as I want, but as you ′′ (Matthew 26:39). He was the living, real, unique example of a demonstration of obedience.
When Jesus was on earth, a lawyer asked him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment of the law? “Jesus said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. “This is the first and great commandment. “And the second is similar to this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Of these two commandmentcough hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36–40). From these scriptures we learn how important it is to love the Lord and our neighbor; but how do we show love for the Lord? Jesus answered that question when he said: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and whoever loves me, he will be loved by my Father…” John 14:21)
Each of us should ask why obedience to God’s commandments. Is it because we are afraid of punishment? Is it because we want the rewards of living a righteous life? Is it because we love God and Jesus Christ and want to serve them? It is better to obey the commandments for fear of punishment than not to obey them; however, we would be much happier if we obeyed God because we love him and want to obey him.
When we make the decision to prefer to use obedience freely, He also freely blesses us. He said: “…I, the Lord…delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth to the end. Obedience also helps us to progress and to be more like our Heavenly Father; but those who do nothing until they are commanded and then keep the commandments out of ill will, lose their reward.
Where does obedience come from?
Obedience is one of the oldest instructions in the Bible, it starts from the beginning of creation. Obedience or disobedience determined the entrance of sin to humanity, the enjoyment of God’s blessings for Israel, salivation and eternal life. In the book of: (Genesis 2:16-17) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: You may eat from every tree in the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day you eat of it you will surely die. This was the first command of obedience from God for man, let’s see what happens later in Genesis (3: 1-7), But the serpent was cunning, more than all the animals of the field that Jehovah God had created; which he said to the woman:
With which God has said to you: Do not eat from every tree of the garden? – and the woman answered the serpent: From the fruit of the trees of the garden we can eat; but (This “but” denotes: we must be obedient to what God demanded of us) God said of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. It means that once Eve and Adam disobey God, and the knowledge of good and evil enters them, their ears are closed to the audible voice of God, this leads us to believe that obeying enters hearing.
What produces obedience?
Since little ones we are exhorted to be obedient in all that we are taught. We hear it from our parents, from our teachers at school, in the church and in fact the country is governed by a series of laws that as citizens we must obey. This exhortation is also found in the Bible. God encourages us not to forget his law and keep it in our hearts: “My son, do not forget my law, and your heart keep my commandments.” (Proverbs 3:1) However, man tends to disobey it, but Revelation calls those who keep it blessed. Obeying his word brings great benefits to our life, let’s see what they are.
Obedience to his word makes us wise:
The first benefit we get from being obedient to his word is that it makes us wise people. Moses taught Israel the statutes and decrees of God in order for them to put them into practice since in them they would find wisdom and intelligence. “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may do so in the midst of the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
Keep them therefore, and put them to work; for this is your wisdom and your intelligence in the eyes of the peoples, who will hear all these statutes, and will say: Certainly a wise and understanding people, this is a great nation. (Deuteronomy 4:5-6), In the same way we can find the source of all wisdom in the word of God and the fact of obeying it can help us to have a better life. All our decisions should be influenced by his word, in fact, many of the current ills in society are due to not obeying his word.
Obedience brings blessings:
The Bible It makes clear to us one of the benefits of obeying God: the blessing. The desire of every human being is to be prosperous in everything he does and here God promises to bless us in all areas of our life if we really obey him, however, the Bible also warns us that if we do not obey, instead of blessings curses will come : “It will come to pass that if you listen attentively to the voice of Jehovah your God, to keep and put into practice all his commandments that I prescribe to you today, also Jehovah your God will exalt you above all the nations of the earth. (The blessing of God is established over the one who listens to his voice to obey his word).
Almost every commandment we receive from Heavenly Father is accompanied by a blessing with a promise. Obedience to the commandments brings us freedom, personal advancement, protection from danger, and many other temporal and spiritual blessings. And lastly, our obedience can lead us to eternal life in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Identifying those blessings can inspire us and others to obey the commandments.
Obedience leads us to justification:
The apostle Paul tells us about another benefit of obedience to God: it leads us to justification through faith in Jesus Christ. In this world the human being can be subject to sin for death, or to Christ for the justification of his soul. That is why the Bible exhorts us to obey Christ by making him the Lord of our lives. “Don’t you know that if you submit to someone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves of the one you obey, be it sin leading to death, or obedience leading to justice? Romans 6:16….The title Lord means “be our owner”in such a way that we no longer live as it seems best to us but as it pleases Christ.
Obedience to Christ makes us heirs of eternal life:
The greatest benefit of obedience to God is that it makes us heirs of the kingdom of God. When we surrender our life to Jesus our sins are forgiven and God gives us the gift of eternal life. That is why the last chapter of Revelation declares blessed those who keep and obey his word. Revelation tells us how beautiful it will be to pass into eternal life: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea no longer existed.
(God showed John part of what is found in the kingdom, to leave evidence that his promises are real and is the reward of those who obey with their hearts), And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descend from heaven, from God, prepared as a wife adorned for her husband. (This verse speaks of having the certainty that every sacrifice made for obedience will be faithfully rewarded by the God of heaven).
And I heard a great voice from heaven saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them; and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as his God (And God will deliver all the promises, for the fulfillment in all obedience of his statutes) God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will be no more death, nor will there be more crying, nor clamor, nor pain; because the first things happened”. (Eternal life the greatest reward for obeying to follow Jesus), apocalypseyes 21:1-4. Paul says that God has prepared great things for his saints: “Rather, as it is written: Things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man, are what God has prepared for those who love him.” .1 Corinthians 2:9.
What does obedience mean?
Meaning of obedience: The Hebrew word is Shama, which means to hear wisely; be willing; respond to a call; give approval. The obedience; It means submission to authority by choice. Submitting to authority because one chooses voluntarily. Obedience is an inner persuasion. You do not obey because you are persuaded from within. I can give you 40 sermons on obedience but if it is not revealed, you do not obey. You choose to obey God. It’s a choice. The strength of a man is in his will.
The strength of a woman is in her will. The will is the strength of character. The mind, the emotions can tell you something, but you decide to obey God. People who have a strong character in God are people with a strong will. The will chooses an action and a decision produces an action. His will aligned with the will of God. How many want God to fulfill what he has promised? His will alone is of no use, his will surrenders to take His. It is a joint effort.
There is a point in the Christian life that you are so convinced that God called you to it, that even thinking about going back is not an option. Have you made the decision to live obedience as a lifestyle? Are you still struggling with decisions whether or not to obey? You. he wonders: does it bring me pleasure? Does it bring me security? what will people think? does it suit me now? does it bring me profit? Is it comfortable? if you. you have to ask these questions over and over again, obedience to God must be your lifestyle.
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