Obedience
This is a word that is pretty well understood at a very early age. It appears to me that we sometime “out grow” this word. I remember being punished many times for “lack of obedience”. When I became a Dad, I understood the importance of obedience.
The heart of the word obedience is: obey. I looked up obedience in the dictionary and it has to do with “submission to another’s authority. The word obedience implies compliance with certain standards of behavior as well. I’m still learning obedience to the speed laws. (Confession is good for the soul and hopefully leads to obedience.) Jeremiah calls out a special group of people who were obedient to God when everyone else was rebelling. Check this out….
16The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab obeyed the commands their ancestor gave them, but the people of Judah have not obeyed me.’ 18Then Jeremiah said to the Recabites, “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab and have followed all of his teachings; you have done everything he commanded.’ 19So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’ ” (Jeremiah 35:16, 18-19 NCV)I pray that the Lord knows my family for their obedience. I realize that it starts with me obeying first. I still have work to do in this area, but I would love for the Lord to notice the obedience of my family and honor them for it. It is my prayer that no matter what others may do or decide; my family serves the Lord wholeheartedly.
Today, I will obey and honor the Lord. Tomorrow, I will obey and honor the Lord. I will continue to obey and honor the Lord the rest of my days here on earth. I’m looking forward to an eternal reward for obedience. As I walk this journey of obedience, my heart is transformed and I want to obey because of the Lord’s love for me instead of fear of punishment. It’s a very different motivation for obedience.
Pressing On! Dwayne