January 3, 2021 Obedience

Genesis 5-6

Psalm 2:7-12

Proverbs 1:7

Matthew 3

Obedience

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God ….. And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded Him.”

Genesis 6:9,22

Noah was blameless among his contemporaries and he did everything God had commanded him to do. That is amazing. I would love for that to be said about me, but I’m afraid I am a long way from that being true. Too often my obedience is dependent on whether I like what I am being told to do or whether it seems to make sense. Too often I go to God with a plan and ask Him to bless it instead of going to God and asking what His plan is. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” If I lean on my limited understanding, what He is telling me often doesn’t make sense. But He has a much broader perspective and knows what is best.

My oldest daughter recently told her younger sister that delayed obedience is disobedience. That hit home with me because, unfortunately, if I think God is telling me to do something I don’t really like, I often wait and see if He will change His mind or I rationalize that I must have heard Him wrong and I wait for Him to tell me again. Often, when I do this, I miss out on the blessing I would have received by obeying Him immediately. His purposes will be accomplished, but He may use someone else to do it instead of me. If Noah had waited to start building the ark, he might not have been done by the time the flood came. His timing and His will are perfect. One of my goals as I start this New Year is to be so connected to Him that I immediately respond to His promptings without even hesitating. He really does know best and if I obey Him He will make my paths straight.