Obedience School is Just for Dogs
I’ve never taken a dog to obedience school. If you have, perhaps you can validate or confirm something I heard. Obedience School is more for the human than for the dog. This may be an urban legend. If it is, the only thing it’s bound to harm is our human egos. The premise behind this statement is most dogs are basically obedient. The problem is with the owners. They aren’t consistent in giving commands. Consequently the dog doesn’t always get the right message. With the right training a dog learns to consistently respond to commands. So dogs and their owners have a lot to learn. But let’s be clear on one thing, the dog has no say in this.
One of our unique characteristics of being made in the image of God is our ability to choose. We may practice doing something a thousand times, but if we choose to do it differently, we will. God has given us a free will to choose or reject whatever we want. This is even true of specific commands to obey.
As you would expect the Bible has much to say about obedience. I want to call your attention to nine observations I have made about obedience from God’s word. Read through these and think about them if you are struggling in any area of your life about whether or not to obey God.
9 Observations about Obeying God.
- Jesus is our example of obedience. He obeyed the Father. John 6:38, Luke 22:42
- Obedience is a demonstration of love for the one we obey. John 14:23, 1 John 5:2
- We have the choice of whether or not to obey. Jesus doesn’t allow the wind and the sea or demons to disobey Him. Matthew 8:27, Mark 1:27.
- Believing in that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to pay for our sins is described as obeying Jesus. Those who obey and believe in Him receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:32, Hebrews 5:9
- Whoever doesn’t believe Jesus died, was buried and rose again to pay for his or her sins is described as not obeying Jesus. Those people will experience God’s wrath. John 3:36, Romans 2:8, Thessalonians 1:8
- We can obey Christ with our thoughts. This means we can disobey Him with our thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5
- We are to obey, like Abraham, even if we don’t know the outcome of our obedience. Hebrews 11:8
- Other than God there are two types of people we’re to obey. We are to obey our parents, if we’re children Ephesians 6:1. We’re to obey our leaders in the church Hebrews 13:17
- If there are conflicting commands, we’re to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29
There are many reasons to obey God.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”@wardcushman”]The most compelling reason to obey God is that it’s an expression of our love for Him.[/inlinetweet]
In spite of all these reasons, obedience is still your choice. Show the Father and Son and Spirit how much you love them today by choosing to obey. I think the Father trusts you to obey.
