Ridiculous Obedience

I have been warned by very wise people to be careful when using the word “always.” It is a very powerful word that means “unending” or “constant” and very few times as humans are we characterized by “always!”

On the other hand, the word “always” very much applies to Jesus. He is “always.”

I love one guarantee from God…obedience to Him and His word ALWAYS brings BLESSINGS!!! I love Psalm 24:1-5. ”The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. THEY WILL RECEIVE BLESSINGS FROM THE LORD, and vindication from God their Savior” [emphasis mine]. Jesus is God the Father and the Holy Spirit and HE blesses those who obeys Him!

I love reflecting and I also love God’s word. I love to look at the saints and learn from their lives.

Noah obeyed God whose commands seemed ridiculous but Noah chose obedience over common sense and human reasoning. He was blessed to be saved, along with his family, from the flood. Just look at how we all benefited from Noah’s ridiculous obedience.

How about Abraham? God called him to leave his family and his country. He also told him to go and sacrifice Isaac, his only son. Ridiculous obedience. Abraham was blessed to be the father of Israel….among many other things.

Wow! How about Moses? After he murdered an Israelite and fled Egypt, God told him to go back and tell Pharaoh to free His people. Was it easy? Did it happen in a day? Was he fearful? Did it make human sense? NO, NO, NO, and NO. But did God bless Moses…Yes, Yes, Yes….
Was Moses a perfect man? No.
Did he obey God? Yes.
Was he BLESSED? Absolutely?

How about Joshua? God told this military leader to throw out all his military knowledge and gave him odd instructions for marching around Jericho. Did Joshua obey when it didn’t make human sense? Yes, he did. What happened? The walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

How about Jehoshaphat? He was also told by God to throw out his military strategy and lead battle with a “choir and to sing praise.” Haha! The result of such obedience? Victory. God caused the enemy to be in confusion and fight amongst themselves. Jehoshaphat didn’t even have to fight.

BUT NOTE: HE HAD TO OBEY.

2 Chronicles 20:21, “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.’”

What about Peter the fisherman who took instructions from Jesus the preacher on how to fish? Peter OBEYED. And was he blessed? Ummmmm, yes…TWO boat loads of fish…….Wow! just wow…..

If you study obedience to a Holy God, there is 100% of the time…BLESSINGS. We, nor the men of the Bible, get to say how God blesses or when…but 100% of the time…blessings flow. Sometimes blessings aren’t victories in battle but found in peace, joy, and contentment.

I look at Paul who was naked, chained and in prison. He was obedient to God and wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Corinthians while in prison. And WOW…how has mankind benefited from his obedience? NO doubt Paul’s reward will be GREAT in HEAVEN for all eternity. And just think, Paul’s former life as Saul was a life spent killing Christians.

WE serve an amazing God who can take anyone and transform them into His likeness and use them, if they OBEY, to not only bless us, but others…sometimes for generations to come.

The most fear I experience today, at 54, is not being obedient to a Holy God…who promises to ALWAYS BLESS.

Point of post….OBEDIENCE always guarantees blessings.

Over and over again scripture tells us to walk in obedience. “So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess” (Deuteronomy 5:32-33).

“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams'” (I Samuel 15:22).

We don’t get to manipulate God’s commands. At times those commands can look ridiculous to other men and women, but it is impossible to please God when our eyes are on man. Seek Jesus today. He will lead and guide you. Blessings await!

“God is God. Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.” ~Elisabeth Elliot

“Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today? How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person’s seemingly small act of obedience! Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next.” ~Elisabeth Elliot

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