Morning Dew
Key Passage– 1 Samuel 15: 22-23
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
Key Text – Isaiah 1:1919 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;
I once heard a preacher say that whatever God tells us to do is not for God but for our benefit. Honestly, it sounded corny and hard to swallow. We like to believe if someone orders us to do something, they have something to gain from us obeying them. Most times this is true, but much like our parents, most of the instructions and commandments they give us whilst growing up has nothing to do with them, but mostly it is about our well being. God does not need anything. He is Jehova, the completely self-existing one. He depends on no one and need no one. He is God. But He loves us and wants to see us do well and prosper. So He painstakingly teaches us how to conduct our lives and live successfully.
I am now completely convinced that obeying God totally is all to our ultimate benefit. Please find some of the blessings of obedience I gleaned from a recent study of His word.
1. Promotion: If you are obedient to God, He would promote you and elevate you. He has a way of lifting up those who do His will. In Philippians 2: 8-11, we read “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Exodus 19:55 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
If you want God to lift you up, try obeying Him. As you do, you would discover the truth about ‘promotion comes form the Lord’.
2. Loved by God – God loves every one. But I am convinced that there are those God loves even more specially. Some of such people are those who are obedient to Him. Just think of the elevated positions and intimate relationship God had with Abraham, David and Enoch.
John 15:1010 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
3. Generational Blessings – God maintains the generations of those who obey Him and love Him. He cares for them and prospers them. So if you are generational thinker like God, then you would do His will and you can go to rest, knowing your seed will be blessed. Think about how many times God spoke about blessing Israel because of Abraham and helping Judah because of David.
Deuteronomy 5:2929 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
4. Long Life – God wants us to live long and be full of years before we leave this earth. Sadly a lot of people die young and some of them depart early because of disobedience. God spoke of David, he said ‘With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.’ If you are obedient to the Lord he will keep you alive and give you a long life.
1 Kings 3:1414 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
5. Prosperity – It is amazing how many promises are in the bible about obedience and prosperity. This goes beyond financial wealth, but certainly includes it. If you obey God, He would make sure you have a good life. Everything will work for you. In actual fact, what the Job scripture is saying is that you will spend your years in an Eden-like place. Eden means Pleasurable place. Wow! It is so wise to obey God regardless of personal consequences. He will look after you beyond what you or any man can do for you.
2 Kings 18:5-7 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.6 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
Job 36:11 – If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
It is amazing what obedience to God produces in our lives and generations. Let us do our best to always obey God, in both the little and big things and see His blessings come upon us and overtake us. I think it is simply wise to obey God.
Let’s us remember that God does not want to trip us up, so He would also help us to obey Him.
Philippians 2:1313 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
So we can ask for God’s help and He would work in us both to will and do His good pleasure.
Let’s Pray: Father God, to obey you is better than sacrifice. Father please remove every stony heart from me and grant me the heart of flesh, that is malleable and soft towards you. Father I desire total obedience to you, please grant me this grace. I believe that you want the best for me, so help me to always understand that your commandments and instructions are ultimately for my benefit. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.