“When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.” John 15:10
Obedience- being submissive to authority, complying with orders and fulfilling one’s responsibility. Our obedience begins not with humans but with the Lord. If you struggle with obedience in your everyday life stop and look at your obedience to the Lord. How is that going?
From the beginning obedience was required in following the Lord and will be until the end. We see that in the 7 letters to the seven churches. We are most obedient to the ones and things we are the most faithful to. Again who and what are we most faithful-loyal to, God or ourselves?
The Lord says in each letter to the churches and as a matter of fact in the whole Bible those who are loyal and obedient to me will be the ones who will inherit the Kingdom of God. Do you know the most incredible thing about being obedient to the Lord? The reward that awaits us not just in the end but every day!
Let’s look at the rewards promised to the 7 churches and all who are victorious.
1. Ephesus- We will eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
2. Smyrna- We will not be hurt by the second death and will receive the crown of life.
3. Pergamum- We will eat from the manna that is hidden away in heaven and will each receive a white stone with a new name engraved on it that only we and the Lord will know.
4. Thyatira- We will be given authority over all nations and will be given the morning star.
5. Sardis- We will be clothed in white, our names will never be erased from the Book of Life and we will be announced to everyone that we are His!
6. Philadelphia- We will be protected from the great time of testing that will come on the whole world. We will become pillars in the Temple of God and will never have to leave. And God’s name will be written upon us.
7. Laodicea- If we open the door and let the Lord in He will come in and share a meal with us and we will sit with Him on His throne just as He sat upon the throne of His Father.
Romans 6:17 tells us that when we are obedient to the Lord we receive His approval.
John 14:21 says, “Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them.”
1 John 2:3-6 wraps it all up for us and tells us straightforward how we can be sure we are living for the Lord and not ourselves or the world. “And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments. If someone says, I belong to God but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth. But those who obey God’s word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.”
My question to you is how can you be obedient to the Lord if you never open your bible and read all that He asks of you? How can we as a body claim to be obedient if we tolerate and allow sin to go on in our church and our own lives? Don’t wait until it is too late to start being obedient, start today and receive all the great rewards the Lord has for you.
Jesus help us fall more in love with You, for in love comes pure obedience. Amen
