Most Wonderful God, I am comforted by Your words which tell me that, if I listen carefully to what You say and do it, You will be an enemy of my enemies and oppose those who oppose me. I know that as I learn to obey You, we will become closer, You will become more real to me and we will become one. As I align myself with Your will and act on what You teach me, I believe I will be a recipient of the best of everything You have to give. Learning obedience is a perpetual process of submitting my will to Yours. To become obedient, I must be willing to submit to You in all things … even though it might mean loss and suffering. By faith, Abraham was asked to trust You and travel to an unknown place. And, while not fully understanding why he was being asked to go … obeyed … and became the father of a great nation.
In Your Word, You tell me that to obey is better than sacrifice. What this says to me is that, if my heart is not submitted and my love is not genuine, my sacrifices have no worth to You. Therefore, my offerings must be done with an attitude of submissiveness and a desire to obey. As an obedient child, I must not allow myself to be conformed to the world … instead, becoming holy as You are holy and following Your lead. Sometimes I learn obedience the hard way … being nudged to do what is right by what I suffer. When I am in distress and surrounded by problems, I should turn to You and do what You tell me to do. If I do obey You, I know I will receive Your blessings as I respond to Your commands. In response, You will provide me with the courage, patience and perseverance I need to succeed. If for no other reason, I should be willing to obey You out of gratitude for all You do for me.
Perfect obedience to Your commands should become my primary focus. The offering of myself to You cannot be complete until I am willing to surrender to Your authority and obey Your commands. As an apprentice under Your tutoring … I am being trained, my skills are being sharpened and my character is being molded into Yours. Nothing less than my total surrender and the help of Your grace will enable me to submit to You the way I should. As I make the choice to align my goals with Yours, I know I will be filled with Your goodness and abundance. In being obedient, I must resist everything that sets itself against You and take captive every thought that causes me to disobey. I believe that trials which come into my life are meant to show me how I am doing in the learning process. Through Your instruction, I am mastering the things that cause me to obey. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Deuteronomy 13:4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.