If I ask my oldest son to take out the trash, I expect him to do it. If I tell my youngest son to head upstairs for bed, he should head upstairs for bed.
However, if some stranger, with no relationship to them or me, tells them to do something. They have no responsibility to obey. In fact, it could be dangerous for them to listen to the directions of strangers.
When your friend tells you to slow down, you can listen or not. But if a police officer pulls you over and asks you to lighten up on the gas pedal, you'd better follow that instruction.
It should be an obvious fact that obedience is grounded in identity. Who is giving the commands matters much more than exactly what is being commanded. That is never more the case than with God. You should obey Him because of who He is.
I've confessed before, sometimes reading through the Old Testament books of the Law can be difficult. If we are honest, our eyes can glaze over reading through seemingly inapplicable law after inapplicable law. However, we can miss crucial principles, if we skim unaware through these passages
Reading through Leviticus 19, you can get lost in sacrifices, making clothes of two different materials, standing up when the elderly enter the room ... but if that is all you see, you miss what is going on in those passages.
All of these commands share the same foundation - the phrase repeated continually in the passage: "I am the LORD your God." Those instructions were to be obeyed because they came from God and He is worthy of your obedience.
In John 14:15, Jesus tied devotion and adoration to obedience. Obeying God means that we recognize who He is and love Him because of it.
What does that tell us about disobedience? We aren't loving God and we aren't acknowledging Him as who He is. If we love Him and we accept Him as God, then we will obey Him. No questions. No excuses. Obedience will follow love and a recognition of God as our Lord.
If my sons love me and they know me as their father, then obedience will be a result. It doesn't mean that everything will be perfect, but it does mean their lives will be characterized by obedience.
If I love God and acknowledge Him as Lord and Father, then obedience will be a characteristic of my life. I won't always make the right choices, but my life will be directed toward following the commands God gives me.
Obedience is the answer to the questions - do I love God and do I recognize God for who He is.
However, if some stranger, with no relationship to them or me, tells them to do something. They have no responsibility to obey. In fact, it could be dangerous for them to listen to the directions of strangers.
When your friend tells you to slow down, you can listen or not. But if a police officer pulls you over and asks you to lighten up on the gas pedal, you'd better follow that instruction.
It should be an obvious fact that obedience is grounded in identity. Who is giving the commands matters much more than exactly what is being commanded. That is never more the case than with God. You should obey Him because of who He is.
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| Me with my youngest, who should obey because I'm "Daddy." |
Reading through Leviticus 19, you can get lost in sacrifices, making clothes of two different materials, standing up when the elderly enter the room ... but if that is all you see, you miss what is going on in those passages.
All of these commands share the same foundation - the phrase repeated continually in the passage: "I am the LORD your God." Those instructions were to be obeyed because they came from God and He is worthy of your obedience.
In John 14:15, Jesus tied devotion and adoration to obedience. Obeying God means that we recognize who He is and love Him because of it.
What does that tell us about disobedience? We aren't loving God and we aren't acknowledging Him as who He is. If we love Him and we accept Him as God, then we will obey Him. No questions. No excuses. Obedience will follow love and a recognition of God as our Lord.
If my sons love me and they know me as their father, then obedience will be a result. It doesn't mean that everything will be perfect, but it does mean their lives will be characterized by obedience.
If I love God and acknowledge Him as Lord and Father, then obedience will be a characteristic of my life. I won't always make the right choices, but my life will be directed toward following the commands God gives me.
Obedience is the answer to the questions - do I love God and do I recognize God for who He is.
