TRUST AND OBEY

1st John 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Obedience is the recognition of authority and submission to the authority of the commandment given. Obedience is a decision. It is an act of the will. So also is disobedience. Obedience has a price, but it also has a reward. The question is, “Who and what authorities must we be obedient to?”

God is the supreme authority. Exodus 20:2 - I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. God gave the commandments they were to live by, and made it clear that obedience is not negotiable. A good example of this is 1st Samuel 15, when God gave King Saul specific instructions saying that he was to utterly destroy the Amalekites. But Saul only partially obeyed. He destroyed the people and discarded that which had no value, but he spared king Agag and the best of the cattle and the sheep.

But we must understand that partial obedience is still disobedience. The price of disobedience was the loss of his kingdom. The counterpart to this is when the three Hebrew children were in Babylonian captivity. The king commanded that all should bow down and worship the image that he had made. Yet they rejected the king’s command, but obeyed God.

But how does obedience apply to us today? It is summed up in an old hymn of the church that says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but trust and obey.”

Jesus said in John 14:15 - If you love me, keep my commandments.

Pastor Vernon Groce, Holly Street Church of God, 807 Holly Street Atlanta, TX