Worthy Devotions - Daily Christian Devotion » Obedience

Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

Yesterday we were running errands in town and we took our four year-old, Elianna, to a toy store she loves to visit. We usually don’t buy much (just playing with the toys there is great fun for her) but this time, unbeknownst to Elianna, we were planning to buy her a little kitchen set because she loves to pretend cooking.

While we were researching prices, Elianna wandered away from us, something she knows she’s not allowed to do. When I looked up and didn’t see her, I called her name. “Elianna!” No answer — another no-no.

Finally, I saw her playing a couple of aisles down and I called her name again. Elianna looked up and around but then continued to play.

We were really disappointed. We really wanted to bless Elianna with this one toy, (which was even on sale for a great price) but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. Elianna knowingly disobeyed us twice, and rewarding this behavior just wouldn’t be a good thing to do.

That got me thinking about how much the Lord must want to bless us and give us good gifts – gifts we know nothing about. But I don’t think He can give them when we continually disobey. Uggh.

Lets begin setting our minds on being obedient to God today. He has such great gifts he wants to pour upon us. There’s so much work to be done!

John 9:6-7 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

I read this passage and I wonder how I would react if someone mixed their saliva with some dirt on the ground and put it on my face like this. Ewww! Why didn’t Jesus just heal this guy and be done with it? Why the messy prelude?

If you’ll notice, Jesus did two things. First, He placed mud on the man’s eyes. Then, He told him to go and wash himself in the pool of Siloam. Of course, the man willingly obeyed. If you had some gross concoction smeared on your eyes, wouldn’t you? The mud actually provided the motivation for his obedience.

My point? We don’t always have to understand why we find our selves muddy sometimes. Perhaps if we weren’t muddy, we’d never be motivated to obey! And obedience is crucial to a successful and flourishing walk with the Lord.

Let’s not despise the mud on our face today. We all have times of trial. Let’s use them for an opportunity to be obedient! God is just trying to help us see better!

Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Last evening began the holiday of Pesach (Passover), the day we remember God’s merciful redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. When the final plague struck Pharoh and the Egyptians in Exodus, those who were spared were were the ones who applied blood to their doorposts as God warned. Interestingly, the blood that God required them to apply then was the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb.

As believers in Messiah, we are blessed to have the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, applied upon the doorposts of our hearts. The judgment we deserve has passed over us! And thankfully we can celebrate His redemption in our lives as well this season.

While this is a special time to celebrate God’s passing over our sins, there is one thing we sometimes overlook. Not only should we remember the Lord’s passing over our sins, but equally important is our obedience in passing over others’ sins. Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. This is the way Jesus taught us to pray, is it not? Today we have the opportunity to make this prayer a reality in our lives.

Has someone offended you? Committed a sin against you? It happens, and unfortunately, it will probably happen again, as we live in a world full of sin. But we need to pass over those offenses just as God has passed over ours.

Passover is the season to give our hurts to the Lord. Let’s allow Him to heal and free us, and those we’ve hurt and who’ve hurt us. We have been forgiven many offenses by the innocent blood of our Messiah. How much more should we forgive?

Genesis 26:1-2 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

In the days of Isaac, there was famine in the land of Israel. It appeared then, that the right thing to do was to go to Egypt where there was plenty. But the Lord instructed Issac not to go, and instead cling to the promise that He made with His father, Abraham.

When we moved to Israel three years ago, there were quite a few people saying, “Aren’t you concerned about all the terrorist attacks? What if there’s war? What about your children (Rivka was seven months pregnant with our first at the time)?” The only thing we could reply was that “It’s far more dangerous to live out of the will of God than to live to Israel!”

It was probably hard for Issac to trust that God was truly speaking to him, but he did it. He obeyed the Word of God and stayed put where God told him. And what happened because of his obedience in the midst of a famine? He was blessed a hundredfold! (Genesis 26:10)

Let’s prepare ourselves to obey the Lord, even if it’s difficult! There are blessings to be received — but it all begins with obedience!

James 1: 23-25 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

“Don’t worry about what you do not understand… Worry about what you do understand in the Bible but do not live by.” — Corrie Ten Boom

It’s easy to run congregations and give sermons, write books (even daily devotions, for that matter ), and say all the right things. It’s not nearly as easy, however, to practice what we preach! But a much bigger blessing comes from the latter!

Let’s start talking less and doing more! We all have a long way to go.