God has always placed a very high value on obedience. He blessed those who obeyed and cursed those who did not from the Garden of Eden forward. Is God some sort of tyrannical egotist who delights in lording over His subjects? Certainly not! Our Heavenly Father created us to be in relationship with Him. Obedience draws us into that union, reveals to us His character, instructs us in His ways, and clearly establishes who He is as Creator and who we are as His created ones. Ouch! We recoil at the thought that we are creatures.
    It is not too difficult to acknowledge God as Deity; in fact, one has to be a fool not to! No matter what theory man may develop, whether it be evolution or the big bang theory, there is no way around the ultimate fact that we did not create the universe and all that is contained therein. Someone had to begin the evolution process, set off the big bang, or simply create everything according to the Genesis account.
    We are not God. No matter how we tamper with conception, birth, and death, God is the Creator, Giver, and Sustainer of Life. Nevertheless, each of us has the God-given gift of free will which allows us to either chose to acknowledge God as God, or to raise ourselves up as god. Obedience, then, is the tool God uses to mold our will to choose Him, so that an intimate relationship between the Creator and the created can be established and nurtured. Obedience is a spiritual discipline that fosters humility and softens our heart so it can be fashioned according to God’s design. When we walk in humility, we understand that God is God and we are not; therefore, we ought to submit to Him.
    In His infinite wisdom God has chosen to teach us the rudiments of obedience not only in our obedience to Him, but in our submission and obedience to one another as well. Just as obedience to God brings us into relationship with Him and binds us to Him in a spiritual relationship of love and security, so our obedience to those God has placed over us brings us into earthly relationships of love and well being. Hence, we bring blessings upon ourselves and not curses.
    The godly order of obedience can be readily seen in the relationship between parent and child, which is simply an earthly replica of God’s relationship with His children. As a mother of young children, I would be amazed to see bonding take place with a child I had just disciplined. There would be the inevitable struggle and the clashing of wills, followed by the breaking of the barrier, the tears, repentance, forgiveness, and hugs. A new, deeper relationship was forged, love flowed freely, and the child had a deep sense of security and belonging. I had once again affirmed the authority of my God-ordained role and was at peace; my little one felt loved, safe, and protected.
    Scripture tells us it will be well for children who obey their parents. (Ephesians 6:1-3) Why? Because it is an earthly model of the right relationship between God and each one of His children, a relationship of love, trust, and security built upon the discipline of obedience.
   God has designed all earthly relationships to follow this pattern: husbands and wives, employers and employees, governments and citizens. But in order for God’s plan to work correctly, we must first be a people obedient to Him. As we choose to obey God we grow to love and trust Him more. As a result, we learn to submit to those in authority over us, and when God calls us, to be godly authorities.** (see note in side column)
    At the root of obedience is the free, humble, joyful submission to the will of God in our lives. It is based on trust in God’s love for us and in our assurance of His desire to do what is best for us in every situation. It is easy to obey God or our authority when we agree; the rub comes when we are asked to do what we do not want to do. God uses precisely those times when our will is crossed to put us to the test. Will we trust Him enough to do the hard thing — to obey God or those He has put in authority over us — when everything in us is screaming “no”?
    When we are faced with a situation in which we find it difficult to obey, there are usually many voices clamoring to be heard. Not only will the people around us have their varied opinions, but our mind will become a battleground where every conceivable rationalization will fight against the still, small voice — that deep inner knowledge of God’s will. God will not force our decision, nor will He coerce us into doing His will. He merely puts the situation before us and lovingly awaits our decision.
    These battlegrounds of obedience present themselves daily on many different levels, but because we are so used to running our own lives, and are so often oblivious to the many daily nudges of the Holy Spirit, we often make our decisions based on what we want to do and are unaware we have once again disobeyed God. As daily disobediences continue, we become hardened to the Spirit’s whisperings and finally block them out completely, sorely hindering our relationship with God.
    Let me sight a couple examples. Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you about diet. You know you are overweight; you are often short of breath, have high blood pressure and pain in your knees. Your mind is aware of the situation, and your body is certainly speaking to you. Several friends and family members, as well as your pastor, have broached the subject, but you laugh it off. Finally, your doctor speaks to you, but you rationalize that, too. When you are offered a large piece of chocolate cake, you are so conditioned to following your own way you ignore the twinge inside that says to resist.
    You may love God, be willing to give generously to the missionary offering or to teach Sunday school — but watch out if anyone asks you to do the one thing God is pressing you to do. God does not push, but you will undoubtedly find your relationship with Him weakened. You may become angry, irritable, defensive, or depressed, often not realizing that your own disobedience is the cause. Your disobedience may even be in an area you may consider unrelated or insignificant.
    In another scenario, the Lord may be impressing upon you to be a faithful and productive employee, but you are constantly having clashes with your boss and deliberately not following through with assignments. You criticize and blame your boss and become increasingly belligerent and defensive. When you are fired, you take on the victim mode rather than confessing your disobedience, receiving God’s forgiveness, and even thanking Him for a lesson learned.
    Sometimes we balk at “little obediences” rationalizing they do not really matter. Besides, they make our lives more difficult. Why should we make our beds, turn out the lights when we leave the room, eat more vegetables, go to bed earlier, or read our Bibles and pray each day? For that matter, why shouldn’t we drive just a few miles over the speed limit, squeak through the intersection even though the light has already turned red, “fudge” a little on our income taxes, lie to our employer, or cheat on our spouse? And so it goes. Little disobediences ignored slowly block out the Holy Spirit and sear our conscience so it is easier and easier to disobey in larger things.
    King Saul was severely reprimanded to the point of losing his kingdom because of disobedience. Rather than obeying the command of the Lord to destroy the Amalekites along with their flocks and herds, he spared the king and kept the best of the livestock for himself. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, he lied and rationalized that he was saving the best of the spoil to sacrifice to God.
    Samuel replied, “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, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (I Samuel 15:22-23a)
    Why is disobedience (rebellion) equated to witchcraft? Because it severs our relationship with God and aligns us with Satan, the god of disobedience and rebellion, and the father of all that is evil. To obey, therefore, is not an option. It is perhaps the single most important thing we can do to develop an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. (John 15:9-10) It is the way we show our love to God. (John 14:15) It is the way to true and abiding joy. (John 15:11) And it is following the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:8)
    Let us choose to be obedient in the small things, in the daily rubs which come our way, so our spirits will be trained to stand against our flesh and to serve God in every area of our life.