Obedience – Proverbs 19:16

He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of conduct will die.

Absolute obedience to His commandments, nothing less, to this God calls His people. Therefore, guard against diluting the truth of God’s Word in an attempt to honor Him while giving Him less, for partial obedience to God is disobedience. Disobedience is sinful, and the wages of sin is death.[1]

Look at the consequences others have paid for their partial obedience. Take Saul, for although the Lord instructed him to destroy everything belonging to Israel’s enemy, Amalek,[2] he kept the best of the spoils for himself as if he could trifle with God.[3] With the same disrespect for her Creator, Lot’s wife halfheartedly obeyed the Lord’s instructions for escape from the holocaust He was sending to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. She fled with her husband and daughters, but she disregarded the Lord command not to look back. Saul paid for this and other rebellious acts with his kingship[4] and ultimately his life, as did Lot’s wife.[5] These scriptural accounts are testimonies to us that the Lord considers rebellion and insubordination grievous offenses against Him, as odious in His eyes as divination and idolatry.[6]

Blessedly, our Lord is compassionate, gracious, loving, and slow to anger; otherwise, none of us would survive as we slip and fall along the road to sanctification. For when we return to Him after having strayed into sin, He tenderly welcomes us back into the fold. However, He will not let the unrepentant go unpunished forever,[7] and our blatant sin is not without cost. We deceive ourselves if we believe we get away with sin, and should we tarry in it, we will find that the pleasure, goods, and accomplishments gained through disobedience will turn foul and poisonous.[8] How foolish we are when we indulge in sin for joy is ours as God’s own possession when we obey His voice and hold fast to His covenant.[9]

Claim the joy of the Lord as your own. Search your heart for roots of disobedience, and upon finding them, rip them out, and rid yourself of that which is incompatible with God’s commandments.  Obey the Lord in all that He has called you to do, and as one having wisely avoided the slough into which rebellion leads its devotees, enjoy the freedom Christ has given you.

Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, walk with the Lord in obedience to His holy Word, and rejoice in the blessed life He delights in giving His beloved.[10]

[1] Romans 6:23

[2] 1 Samuel 15:3

[3] 1 Samuel 15:9

[4] 1 Samuel 15:26

[5] Genesis 19:17, 26

[6] 1 Samuel 15:23

[7] Exodus 34:6-7

[8] Exodus 16:20

[9] Exodus 19:5

[10] Psalm 119:2