Beyond Mere Obedience - Mr. R. Rajkumar

After we have turned to Christ, we are to please Him in our thoughts, words, actions and the intentions behind those actions.

The Word of God says that while the whole world is a prisoner to sin, we who are born of God have been set free (1 John 5:19; Galatians 3:22). God in His mercy and great compassion does not want to even punish the wicked. God chose to have us repent and return to Him (Ezekiel 33:11) and for this reason gave us His Son Jesus to be crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

God wants us to obey Him, so that we would abide in HIS love and our joy will be made complete (John 15:9, 10, 11). This obedience can never be enough. At times when we are beginning to get complacent with our level of obedience and commitment we have shown to God’s ways, we must recall Paul’s exhortation of the Church at Thessalonica- to excel still more (1 Thes. 4:1).

Our obedience to God must display the following characteristics: Zealous: Our obedience to God should pour out from our heart’s desire to do zealous works for His glory (Titus 2:11-14). Obedience comes from knowing God more and more. God has promised that we shall all be taught of God and that everyone who has heard and learned of God comes to Jesus (John 6:45). We must ask God to open our eyes and reveal wonderful things in His Word (Psalm 119:18-19), such that by hiding His commandments in our heart we may not sin against God.

Reverent: When we look to the life of Jesus on earth, we see that He lived a life totally submitted to His Father. The Bible says that His prayers were answered because of His reverent submission to God (Heb. 5:7-9; John 11:41-42). Paul’s call to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a symbol of our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1), denotes the importance of obedience out of reverent fear of God.

Even when we have found the favour of God because of our pleasing ways, we must set our hearts to learning more of and from Him so that we may continue to delight Him (Exodus 33:13). Cheerful: Paul in his letter to the Corinthians encourages the Church to act for God, not grudgingly or under compulsion (2 Cor. 9:7). In this verse, we are told that God loves a cheerful giver. The fact that God’s nature never changes reveals that even when we are called into obedience to Him,

He would love to see us act accordingly. We must cheerfully give up the desires of our sinful nature. Unconditional: In the Old Testament, Prophet Malachi , writes of the people of Israel lamenting over their service to God, questioning that even as they had “walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts”, having kept His charge, what profit is it that they had reaped? (Malachi 3:13-15).

Unlike this people of whom Malachi writes, our obedience to God must be out of love and not for personal gain. Our obedience to Jesus must be a response to His act of love upon the Cross. Complete: Our obedience to God must be complete. He has laid down His precepts, which are to be completely obeyed (Psalm 119:4). The Bible records of David as a man after God’s own heart because he was found by God to be one “who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). The psalmist says, “Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165). Immediate: If God instructs us or reproves us, we must show immediate obedience and not bide our time. God loves us deeply and when we are afflicted, He shares with us in our affliction (Isaiah 63:11). When we immediately seek to tear ourselves away from sin, His love and mercy is able to redeem us and restore us back into His righteousness. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience to God need not be a struggle. We must turn to God to give us the strength and wisdom to obey Him.