Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.
Thanks for joining our first Bible Study of the New Year, where we will rely on the Word of God as our guide since 2024 will be k-razy. I thought obedience would be an impactful opening topic since I find it fascinating, having “experienced” obedience to God at several critical junctures.
Here is my perspective: Obedience to our Lord means we hear a continuous calling or voice inside our head that guides our behavioral decisions and actions. If you love the Lord and have an active daily relationship with Him, he will make clear your path. That means you must be obedient to his directives.
Conversely, should you decide not to obey, be prepared to suffer the consequences. (See “Jonah and the whale” for the best example of consequences after acting contrary to God’s will.)
If God directs you to do something and makes it abundantly clear, surrender to His will and obey his plan. But how do you know if you are being obedient to God? My rule of thumb is YOU WILL KNOW because He will guide your way and open the doors. You will notice coincidences or happenings that God places as mile markers for you to continue whatever He commands while you are obeying those commands.
I speak from experience when God directed my husband to a new job in Florida, requiring us to move from Alexandria, VA. About 18 months prior, we started praying for the “perfect job” for his “second career” as he was about to retire from the U.S. Government.
God delivered the perfect job so perfectly that it was mind-blowing. However, initially, I was not thrilled about moving to Florida (underline “not thrilled.”) But God made it evident that this was a “Jonah and the whale move,” and I thought it was prudent to avoid the whale. Almost 18 years later, His hands are still upon us in Florida.
Now, let’s turn to “obedience” in the Word of God, which means following His commandments. We begin in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament:
“Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always” (Deuteronomy 11:1).
“It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 13:4).
In Deuteronomy 28:1-68, God explicitly informs about what will happen if His people are obedient to His commands. Below are only the first two verses, but I recommend reading 1-68:
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God...” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Those three passages pretty much sum up what Deuteronomy says about obedience. But guess what? His people disobeyed, and the consequences are recorded in Joshua:
“The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Joshua 5:6).
The obedience rulebook continues:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
God speaks to Isaiah and offers a simple message for living that is relevant to us:
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land...” (Isaiah 1-19).
There are many more Hebrew Bible obedience-related verses, but as usual, space here is short, and the New Testament demands equal time. John’s gospel has much to say about obedience consistent with the Old Testament, but unlike God the Father, Jesus is in the flesh:
“But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:31).
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
“You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).
After the Resurrection of Jesus, obedience to Him, His teachings, and His commandments come into the light:
“And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” Hebrews 5:9.
“...who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2).
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:3-6).
“And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:22).
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
And that is our takeaway – “His commandments are not burdensome.” I don’t know about you, but I am enthusiastic to start the new year with a new attitude and resolve to obey His commandments. (My husband informed me that he plans on being the “guardian” of my resolution.) If you need a refresher about the commandments, see Vol. 33 and Vol. 150.
I wish you an obedient and successful year. You can increase your chances of that happening if you “do what pleases Him.” Amen to that!
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer with numerous national credits. Her book, "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible," reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. "Part 2,” with the same title, reprints Vols. 57-113. Order it here.
Myra is also the Executive Director of SignFromGod.org and the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit. Both are educational donor-supported ministries dedicated to building a permanent Shroud of Turin exhibit in Washington, D.C. Visit the life-sized Shroud replica in D.C. Contact: MyraAdams01@gmail.com.
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