The Anatomy of Obedience 1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV) - But Samuel replied: Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. Obedience to God is one of the most important elements of our relationship with God. In the absence of obedience, no meaningful relationship with God is possible. Understand that this divine-human relationship is not between two equals. He is the Almighty God and we are mere mortals, sinful and therefore separated from Him. In spite of this, God extends his mercy and grace to fallen man and invites us to enter into a meaningful relationship with Him. The undergirding premise of this relationship is our obedience. What does obeying God looks like? What does it entails. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Samuel, the judge and prophet, made this statement to King Saul. Since then, it has been often quoted. I suppose an important reason is the human inclination to treat God merely as a cosmic power, or like the other gods, which satisfies our desires. Worship and sacrifices are rendered to God for the purpose of entreating His favour. This reduces the God-man relationship to merely a transaction. Saul had this mistaken notion, and so do many people, including Christians. God made it clear through Samuel that He desired obedience above everything else. This is how God wants His people to relate to Him. Every meaningful relationship is characterised by love and Jesus teaches that our love for God must be demonstrated by our obedience (John 14:15, 23, 1 John 5:3). One can declare his love for God but if he does not obey, then, he does not really love God. Talk is empty. It must be followed up with action. The hyper-grace teachers have relegated obedience to an Old Covenant requirement. They claim that under the Old Covenant, blessings were conditioned upon obedience. However, under the New Covenant, obedience is no longer a requirement since Jesus had obeyed God perfectly on our behalf. While they do not teach their followers to disobey God, such kind of teaching unwittingly demotivates believers to take obedience to God seriously. It also has the undesired effect of giving believers licence to live carelessly. Obedience means the willingness to make sacrifice. While obedience is better than sacrifice, it also entails making sacrifice. Following Christ has a cost (Luke 14:25-35). Jesus said this plainly to those who wanted to follow Him. Not to douse their enthusiasm but to let them know the reality of discipleship. Didn’t Jesus say, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 11:39)? Obedience means laying down our life in total surrender to God. For the sake of God’s purpose to rescue her countrymen from total annihilation, Queen Esther was prepared to lay down her life, saying, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). To obey God’s call to abolish the slave trade and slavery, William Wilberforce was willing to sacrifice his political career. He pressed on in this endeavour despite his ill health, many death threats, and the opposition of virtually the whole world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer courageously stood up against the evils of Hitler and the Nazi regime because of his Christian convictions. He believed that he had to obey God and speak up no matter how high a price he must pay. All three of them had everything going for them. They had wealth, influence and a promising future. But for the sake of obeying their God-ordained call, they were willing to lay down their lives and sacrifice everything. Obedience can also mean ‘being sacrificed.’ Esther’s life was spared. She lived to see King Xerxes reversed the edict to annihilate all the Jews and celebrate the Purim. William Wilberforce’s obedience was steadfast. He fought the slave trade and slavery with unflinching resoluteness and determination for a long time. It took him 19 years before the bill to outlaw the slave trade was passed in the House of Commons. But this was only a partial victory. He continued in relentless pursuit of justice and finally in 1833, which was another 26 years later, slavery was abolished. It took Wilberforce a total of 45 years to bring about the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire. By then he was aged 74. The day after he received the good news, he fell into unconsciousness. 3 days later, he went home to be with the Lord. How glorious is that! As for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 3 weeks before World War Two ended, he was executed by hanging for his part in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. He was not spared. He died a martyr because he obeyed. Pastors Les & Adeline Chua
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 08:57:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015