Obedience

January 3

Genesis 5-6

Psalm 2:7-12

Proverbs 1:7

Matthew 3

Obedience

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. He did everything just as God commanded Him.”

Genesis 6:9,22 NIV

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. In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (NIV) 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.

A few years ago, I overheard my oldest daughter tell 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. It is interesting to note that there is no mention of rain in the Bible until the flood. So, when God told Noah there was going to be a flood there had never even been rain. He could not have understood what God was telling Him and yet He obeyed. If Noah had waited to start building the ark, it 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.