Devotions: True Obedience

 

I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

Psalm 119:60 New American Standard Bible 1995

 

I’ve heard it said in parenting that delayed obedience, or half obedience, is no obedience. If a child is told to do something and they don’t do it right away, that is disobedience, even if they get up to do it 5 minutes after they are told. Obedience needs to be an immediate response. Delayed or partial obedience (like picking up a sock that was on the floor and putting it on the couch rather than in the laundry basket) reveal selfishness, laziness and an unwillingness to submit to authority. Even if the command is done eventually or in part, it is not done fully or in a timely manner. Ultimately it reveals a rebellious heart, one that says “I’ll do it on my time or my way, instead of in your time or your way.” God hates rebellion. Immediate obedience shows respect, honor for authority itself but also for the One in authority, and humility. Submission has gotten a really bad rap in our society, but it is actually good and biblical when done biblically. Of course it can be abused, but it can also be a means of safety. Submitting to God’s authority keeps us safe from the consequences of bad choices. The key to submission is trusting that the one we are submitting to is good and has our best in mind. God does and perfectly so. We can trust Him completely that what He commands is not only for our good, but for our best. We should not delay in obedience. Knowing that what we are doing is wrong, yet waiting to stop doing it until we are done is not obedience. It is sin and we need to repent. When we are convicted of sin we need to stop immediately.

How do you view obedience to God? Are you willing to submit? Do you obey immediately? Ask God to forgive the rebellious part of your heart. Ask Him to cleanse it and make it wholly His.

 

 

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