Obedience

Something amazing and beautiful happened to those women when they made the decision to do what they were told. On their way, they experienced first-hand the blessing of seeing the resurrected Lord. Not only that, but they touched Him and they worshipped Him. What a wonderful place to be at! Close enough to YAHSHUA to be able to touch Him. Today, although He is not visible to us, we can experience Him through His Holy Spirit.  In fact, He is with us every moment, every minute; all we have to do is to walk in close relationship with Him. Close enough to hear His voice of command, to receive the heavenly manna that flows from His word to our soul. His voice is soft but at the same time emphatic. YAHSHUA told the disciples in John fifteen, You are my friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do; I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father (vs. 14-15). Obedience opens the friendship door between Him and us, giving us the privilege of being called His friends.

Abraham was called God’s friend, when in covenant with Him, and waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled in his life, Abraham believed God and obeyed Him. Twenty-seven years Abraham waited for God to give him his son of the promise. Meanwhile, Abraham maintained faith and trust in God and was awarded the tittle of “The friend of God.” Abraham’s faith compelled him to obey God even when he was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. By faith he knew even in the death of his son, that God was going to fulfill the promise to make a nation out of his son. As he laid his son on the altar and was ready to take his life, behold  the Angel of the Lord said, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son, for now I know that you fear and revere God. In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed will possess the gate of His enemies, and in your Seed [Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed (Genesis 22). 

Obedience, what is it for the believer? The link to a relationship with God. A vertical relationship moving up and down: obedience and blessings.

At the end of his trials, Job was told to pray for his friends, who constituted his enemies in his most needy time. In his bitterness, he could have walked away from the command of the Lord to pray for them, but Job simply obeyed God’s command and as a result, the Lord turned his captivity and restored his fortunes; He gave him twice as much as he had before (Job 42:8-10).

When YAHSHUA told Peter to put out into the deep [water], and lower his nets for a haul, although Peter responded by saying, We toiled all night and caught nothing, he also said, But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets. And the result was they caught a great number of fish. (Luke 5:4-6). A simple obedience harvested a great blessing. Even in view of his past experience, Peter did not hesitate to obey YAHSHUA’S command and took the first step to obey.

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, even though it was going to cost their lives, by being thrown in the furnace, God sent them an angel to save them. Not one hair of their head was burned. The lion’s in their den would not open their mouths against Daniel, when he was thrown to them for refusing to pray to a god beside his God. By their obedience, Daniel and his three friends showed the world the true and only God. Never prizing their lives worthier than obedience to God, they gained His favor by their deliverance.

Persecution is a sure thing coming to those who refuse to worship the world’s false gods. And for some, it already has been happening. In fact, they have been suffering for their faith as long as they have lived. However, YAHSHUA’S promise stands today and forever: “I will be with you always.” That’s enough to give all of us strength to go through what He already suffered for us. Paul said, And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us! (Rom. 8: 17-18). What good is there when we walk in disobedience? The fruits we will gather from it will testify against us. YAHSHUA said, My sheep hear my voice and follow Me. These two actions- hear and follow bear the sense of commitment. Without hearing, there will be no following and no obedience. Hear and do is the message for us. Be doers of the Word and not only hearers, the Word of God admonishes us. Obedience I conclude, is having God bending His ears to bless us.

THINK ABOUT IT!