Choose Obedience

Introduction

Good morning everyone, it is an honour to be able to speak in front of you all today. I am very grateful to have this opportunity. Today I am going to be speaking to you all about obedience. Obedience to God is something that needs to take a place of importance in our lives because obedience is something that is important to God. An obedient heart can be molded by the hand of God.

Jumping into the book of First Samuel we find the people of Israel, they are a nation with no king, they are under the rule of God and God alone is their leader. Israel however is not happy with this arrangement, they want a king so that they may be like other nations. Now I could write a whole sermon just on this passage alone and about not fitting in and on choosing God to have rule and reign over your life, but today we’re talking about obedience. So after warning the people of Israel about what a king would do, God gives in to Israel and anoints for them a king, this kings name was Saul. Saul led the Israelite's, but he soon became disobedient to God, his heart could no longer be molded, in 1 Samuel 13:13-14 King Saul is waiting upon the prophet Samuel to give a burnt offering before heading into battle against the Philistines, and finally gives up waiting for Samuel, ad instead offers up to God the sacrifice himself, this of course is right when Samuel shows up to Saul, it always seems to work out that way, doesn’t it? The moment where we’d least like for someone to show up they show up. But “Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom will not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. Saul lost something that day, God took something from him that day, because of his disobedience. And another time Saul is once more leading his troops in battle, this time against the Amalekites, with the order to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all of their livestock, but Saul keeps not only the king alive but also the best of the livestock alive as well. The Lord sends Samuel to speak to Saul, who admits that he had indeed disobeyed God, but that he had only done so in order to present a sacrifice to God. We find Samuel’s response to this in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”” Because Saul could not obey God, he lost the favour of God. Later on in the story we meet David, who is the person that God had chosen to take over the kingship of Israel. David wasn’t perfect in his rule, but he kept his heart soft, and he remained obedient to God and it is through the line of David that Jesus is born.

So now we know what happens when we’re disobedient, But what exactly is obedience? Obedience to God is about following His law, but it’s not just about following the letter of law, otherwise the Pharisee’s who were the religious authority in Jesus’ day would have been right. The Pharisee’s devoted themselves to following the law of the Lord to the letter, and also laws that they themselves had made. In doing so they believed that they could be saved, the reality that we find in Romans however, is that all have fallen short of the glory of God. Redemption is not going to be found in a perfect following of the law because no mere man can completely follow the law. the Pharisee’s allowed their strict following of the law made their hearts hard, and they could not be molded by God. They used the law to oppress people and look down on them, rather than lifting others up because of them.

So what then, are we to throw the law out? No, that is not what I am saying, do not hear what I am not saying, for we still must be obedient to the law, as it says in 1 John 2:1-6 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.” We do need to follow in and walk in God’s commandments, we do need to uphold His righteous laws, but whats more, we need to walk like Jesus. We need to love like Jesus. Being obedient to Jesus is learning to live like him. We need to not only uphold the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law. Because when we live like Jesus we keep our hearts soft, when the world comes after us, when things don’t go our way, we need to keep our hearts soft, we need to stay obedient to the word of God. We need to remain obedient to God, Romans 12 : 1-2 says “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” This is what God has commanded of us, and we are to be obedient to His call

But how can we do be obedient without knowing first of all what the word says? How are we to be sure that we aren’t falling into the pitfalls of temptation if we aren’t sure of what those pitfalls are. We need to read the scripture, we need to read the instructions that God gave us, there’s an acronym for the Bible that I’ve heard a few times, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Psalm 119:1-16 says “Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances. I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments. I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes. With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth. I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” We need to be reading it and memorizing it so that we know what to do. And how can we live like Jesus without first knowing Him? We need to have a personal relationship with our saviour, we cannot walk like him on our own, so instead we must walk with him. When we choose the life of a Christian, when we declare Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, He walks with us, He is with us when we rise and when we lay our heads down at night and every step in between.