Obedience is an essential hallmark of a disciple. The Lord Himself said: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31) To abide in his word means to follow his word and do what he says. We are his retinue, he is our “Lord”, we want to follow and obediently be at his disposal.
One of those who obeyed the Lord was Ananias, following the perfect example of the Lord Jesus who said through the prophet, “He wakes me every morning, he wakes my ear so that I may hear like those who are taught” That The example of Ananias is to show us that we should listen to the Lord’s instructions.
It is perfectly legitimate to have concerns, but where there are unanswered questions and doubts we must come with prayer to the Lord to discuss them with Him.
For example, Moses was chosen by the Lord to lead his people out of slavery:
Exodus 19: 3 And Moses went up to God; for the Lord called to him from the mountain, and said, You shall say this to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagle wings and brought you to me. 5 So if you will listen to my voice and obey and keep my covenant, you shall be my special property before all peoples; for all the earth is mine; 6 But you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy people to me. These are the words that you should say to the children of Israel.
Obedience is an important component for keeping society together in our daily life as well. In the family, in the company, in the church, there is someone everywhere who leads the others, gives them instructions that should be followed and with whom respect should be shown. Let’s think about how we stand to such superiors or, conversely, how we behave when we are superiors, bosses !!
1 Samuel 15:22 Will you then hear my commands, which I command you, that you may love the Lord your God and be obedient to him with all your heart and with all your soul?
5 Moses 28:14 … obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, that you observe and do them, 14 and if you do not deviate from all the words I command you, neither at your right hand nor at your right hand on the left, so that you do not follow other gods to serve them, I will make you head.
With the exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews began a 40-year journey through the desert, which ended with the settlement of Canaan in western Palestine.
Moses is also the one who receives the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai and thus renews God’s covenant with the people of Israel. Just before the Hebrews reach the promised land, Moses dies and his successor Joshua leads the people to Canaan.
Even though the people sin and often deviate from the right path, the Lord loves his people. Moses prays for his people and asks the Lord for forgiveness for their sins. The Lord shows grace, has mercy on the people. But God is a God of order, he only forgives when man also shows repentance and repents. If we do not reflect and repent, we will not reach the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord is faithful, he has promised the people the exodus from Egypt and the arrival in the promised land. He keeps his promises when we stick to the rules and show obedience.
For each of us the Lord has prepared a path and an arrival in the “promised land”. We just have to live our lives with trust and obedience to his commandments, do our job, work our talents in God’s favor. He has given us the strength to achieve our goal and the mercy to lift us up in weakness. Then we will get what he promised us, because we should never doubt that the Lord is faithful. Let us pray that we are worthy of his faithfulness, we ask for his help and for him to take away our doubts and strengthen our faith.