Obedience Is Immediate

God is a just, kind, and wise Father, and His commands to us are for our own benefit. As a Christian, it is our privilege to be saved by grace and the gift of salvation through Christ—but it is also our privilege on earth to please God through worship and obedience. When we pursue God’s will and do as He commands, we are essentially saying to ourselves and others, “God knows what’s right for me, and His direction will send me down the path of goodness.” And if we believe He is who He says He is, then of course God knows what is best and right for us!

Over the next five days, we will discuss what obedience should mean in our lives and explore some of the pitfalls we ought to avoid on our way. In short, obedience is the path toward a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Father; and following His holy Word will only bring blessings to our lives.

We all have priorities. Family, church, friends, children, work . . . Every individual expends great amounts of energy deciding what is most important in life. For the Christian, God is and should be the priority. And there is no better way to demonstrate that something is a priority than giving it attention right now.

Obedience is not something to be put off. When we know what God’s will in a situation is, we are to do it right away. Waiting around may result in a lost opportunity or even a misstep. Even worse, when we waver, we are not acting in faith.

We think lightly of God when we delay or neglect to obey His Word. We in essence communicate: He’s not our priority.

Is doing God’s will the priority in your life? Are you hesitating to do what’s right for Him? Think of what could be lost if you delayed your obedience. Then, take a moment and ask for God’s discernment over your priorities, then consider praying the following words:

Dear heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I’ve treated Your Word as optional or not prioritized it as most important. I realize in doing so I’ve inadvertently communicated what is important to You to be trivial to me. I repent and ask Your forgiveness. I will give top priority to what You desire. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.