The idea of obedience in our culture is almost at the point of being demeaning. No one likes to be told what to do and if it comes with attitude then there are additional issues that come with it. Even in our marriages it is easy to get into an adversarial role with our spouse if he or she starts making demands or giving orders about what has to be done around the house. The few places that obedience still holds true is the business world; our jobs – if someone is paying you they have the right to tell you to do something and you do it…sort of, depending on what generation you talk with. If you don’t like it, then people quit or find a new job…which does happen a lot these days.
In addition we live in a culture that is absolutely bent on personal rights, freedoms and entitlements. No one can tell anyone else something is wrong because truth is relative (unless you are dealing with scientific truth and somehow that has become the “new authority”). Although it is very amusing to me how many “studies” of any sort keep retracting the last study that was put out on just about anything as they discover new “truth” that no longer supports the findings of last years study. But even if we are talking about “scientific truth” we are dealing with that which is always subject to interpretation.
When it comes to those who are followers of Christ we live in a different mode of existence especially when it comes to our relationship with Christ. Psalm 119 is rich with statements about how a godly person loves to live by God’s Word (obey, keep, follow, seek, walk , learn etc) and obey it. There are two key reasons for this: 1) Christ followers implicitly trust God – If Christ gave us His life for us while we were sinners how much more will He do for those who are now called children of God; 2) Since God is immutable (not corruptible) then what He reveals as truth has the highest authority for us – the Bible claims that God is the creator and sustainer of all that exists. What God has revealed in His Word is not just the imaginations of people or some cultural myth to exalt their own moral guidelines. The Bible is God’s revelation about Himself and how we need to properly see the world we live in (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
So the believer should delight in obeying God’s truth because we know that God’s Word helps us live in a way that provides the richest relationship we can have with him and others. It also protects us from the natural inclinations that we are born with – selfishness, envy, greed, and anger and so forth. His Word helps prevent us making up the rules as we go and simply doing what is of our own self-interest as opposed to God’s requirements for godly living.
Pastor Brad
