seaguls

Deuteronomy 27 v 9 &10 Be silent O Israel and Listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today.

 

Join me as we take a look at the subjects of obedience and love for God. What does it mean? Why do I so often feel I have failed? Is God’s demand for obedience unrealistic or is it the natural outcome of a realisation of who He is? Let’s take this journey together.

If God is God and requires us to obey him He has to reveal to us what He wants obeyed. So right at the outset of this subject we are confronted with the bible’s doctrine of God’s self-revelation. In other words we could never know what He expected from us unless He Himself told us. And we Christians believe He has done that through giving us His life-giving Word.

 

Putting aside all doubts about whether the bible is God’s Word, or not, we will assume it is and proceed to the notion of obeying God’s revealed will. To illustrate how important obedience is we remind ourselves of the story of King Saul in 1 Kings chapter 15. Saul was told to wait for Samuel the prophet to arrive before a sacrifice was made, but he became impatient and conducted the sacrificial ceremony himself. When Samuel confronted him he said to Saul: “To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams”.

 

God always looks for obedience to his revealed will. To live in disobedience and then try to make up for it with acts of piety and devotion (like Saul’s sacrifice) is profound folly.

 

Prayer: Search my heart O God, and know my thoughts. Forgive my waywardness and incline my heart to love your law. Amen