OBEY

I Sam. 15:22 - "to obey is better than sacrifice"  If you were raised in church or have listened to any number of sermons anywhere, I’m willing to bet you have heard something about obedience. It happens to be something that is a key part of salvation and faith that we do not really recognize but when you stop and look at things from a different perspective, you see just how important simple obedience is. Let me give you an illustration.

            In a previous post, I blogged about what you do makes a difference. Each day we are given a choice to contribute to good or contribute to evil and we do so by the words we speak and the actions we make but, what about obedience? How many times have you had God tug at your heart to simply speak to someone or share your testimony or uplift someone that is down and you talked yourself out of it? In the last week, I have spent more effort and attention to listening immediately to the call of God, and as an indirect result, miraculous things are happening. Simply put, I’ve been allowed to see it all play out kind of like a movie where the really cool action scene is slowed down to super slow motion so your eyes can follow everything that is happening, God has allowed me to see what my simple obedience as resulted in. It is so encouraging to see the works of God presented before you in such a way that is so surreal it will blow your mind. The reason I am attempting to give each and every one following this blog a glimpse of what this means is simply that it was not just me that was involved in this process and miracle, rather several people that made the choice to listen to the call, and OBEY. As a result, people’s lives were forever changed. You may think that you don’t have a part, that you’re not special, that you aren’t important, but if you will take the time to stop for 5 minutes step to the side and really concentrate on watching the works of God, he will allow you to see your importance first hand. I have to tell you that it is worth so much more than anything else that could be given to you. A satisfaction unrivaled by anything you will ever do all by simply obeying God.

            As the scripture at the top of the blog says, “To obey is better than sacrifice” stop for a second and realize what the bible says. God Gave us the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. This is the time of the year that we are presented with the opportunity to realize just what Christmas means, and the bible says that Jesus was sent as the greatest sacrifice, the final sacrifice if you will and yet the Bible says simply that to obey is even greater than that. Let that sink in for a moment and I’ll give you another morsel to energize you. Exod. 19:5 - "if you obey My voice ..., you shall be My possession". What is this saying to you? Go open your bible and read these verses and tell me what it means to you. God created us for his enjoyment and all he asks from us is to obey him. To keep his commandments, to honor him and to glorify him. If you simply obey, you will see the plan and the power of God just play out in front of you greater than any movie you will pay to go see. Believe me, it is much more rewarding the awkwardness of “you want me to do what?” Let’s face it, there are times when God presses us to do something and we’re like HUH? Take a week, simply obey, don’t ask questions, just obey, and see the rewards God has in store for you.