Jeremiah 7:23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’”
Our God is looking for His people to obey Him. It is a core theme spoken over and over in both the OT and the NT. The first time we see God’s call to obey Him is in Exodus. In Exodus 19:5 we read “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” Throughout Deuteronomy, one will read of the calls to obey God. Here are but a few examples:
Deut. 12:28 “Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do [what is] good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
Deut. 13:4 “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Deut. 15:5 “Only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today.
Obedience opens doors of blessings while disobedience brings burdens accompanied by heartache and pain which sometimes comes from the discipline of God, but more often from the very consequences of the sin.
When it comes to how much God values obedience, we only have to read what Samuel said to King Saul in I Samuel 15:22. It reads, “Then Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,..”
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Our God also wants us to walk in His ways. We are not to walk the ways of the world or surely not in the selfish ways of our own hearts. To walk in His ways is to walk with Him and to walk like Him!
Are you obeying His commands? Are you walking in the ways of God?
Obedience opens doors of blessings! Disobedience brings burdens!
Continue Strong trusting and Obeying God,
And remember to DATE the Word