Obedience - Part One

Observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and  keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in  the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and  wherever you go. - 1 Kings 2:3

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - James 4:7

“If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says  the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your  blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not  resolved to honor me.” - Malachi 2:2

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father  will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” - John 14:23

My son, keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. - Proverbs 6:20

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. - Deuteronomy 28:1

And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
   as in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice,
   and to heed than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22

Obedience to me is the greatest act of worship. To me it is the greatest commandment, for I feel I cannot hold the command Jesus gives us in Matthew 22:34-40; "...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind..." to the utmost importance, if I do not first understand what it means to be obedient.

Obedience as I understand it, is a form of surrender; it is standing before the Lord of hosts and saying

"I am choosing to lay down my own agenda, I am choosing to lay down my own will and desire and to lay them at your feet."

My hope is for these scriptures to sit on your heart and mind as they have sat on mine. After abusing the Lord's forgiveness and the true practice of repentance in a particular area in my life, I have realized that I must choose to be obedient before I choose anything else.

I have been looking for a way out of the cycle and after today I see the way out is obedience.

I will leave us with a prayer,

Father, make me new. Cleanse my heart and my mind. Would you continue to help me to trust in you more. I ask that you would continue to deepen my understanding of the importance of obedience.

I pray and ask all of these things in your son Jesus' name,

Amen