To obey means to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes or instructions of.
Genesis 22:1 -12 – Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” He said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.
When God called Abraham, he did not hesitate. He said “here I am”. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham did not question God. He did not pray to God to send him in another direction, to spare his son’s life. He listened and obeyed. In obedience, he took his son to offer him as a sacrifice to God. Just as Abraham was about to kill his son, his only son, God provided an alternative. If God had blessed Abraham with an alternative ahead of time, there would have been no increase in his faith, no reason to obey, and no example for him to have left us on how much we can truly trust in and rely on God.
This story teaches us about faith in God. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Abraham had never seen God, but he reasoned that God could raise the dead. After all, God had given him Isaac when his wife was barren and he was an old man.
Another thing it teaches us about is His provision. You don’t even have to read the entire story to find Abrahams belief in God’s provision in action – he said to the servants – wait here, we will return. He also told Isaac that God Himself would provide the offering.
In His word, God promises to do His part as long as we obey Him, but obedience is essential.
1 Samuel 15:22 – But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Acts 5:29 – Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!”
Over and over in the Bible, you can find instances where people would obey and they would be blessed by God, or they would disobey and be cursed. That tells me that there is a reason for our obedience. The entire chapter of Deuteronomy 28 is dedicated to what happens when you obey God and what happens when you don’t. It says that if you obey God, everything you put your hand to will be blessed, if not, then everything you put your hand to will be cursed. EVERYTHING!!! Life is hard enough without curses raining down upon us because we choose to be disobedient. God provides us with wonderful blessings that we are not even entitled to. How much worse would life be if God cursed us in every way that we truly deserve?
The more you obey God, the closer and more intimate your relationship with Him will be.
It is our imperative duty in life to obey the word of God. Without obedience, we are unable to secure our entrance into God’s Kingdom.
His favor only comes through our active faith in Him. Faith is believing and then acting. Hebrews 11:6 says – And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
