He is too little—body, soul and spirit—he is too little.”
–Harold Bell Wright (The Shepherd of the Hills)
“You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”
–Galatians 5:7 (NKJV)
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Perhaps you may remember the image of a dog listening to a phonograph? The title of this image is “His Master’s Voice.” Hmmm, is it ironic? It made me wonder how many people listen to the “words” of a song or an entertainer and do not realize that this may be their master. I know of many who think that entertainers are demigods; they place them on that status whether they realize it or not. So, I ask–what do you listen to? Who do you listen to? It is quite a pertinent question.
We read, “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.” (Exodus 19:5, NKJV) We often concentrate on the term “covenant” which will be called the Mosaic Covenant, but there is something else that is important and that is obeying. Often, all too often, we get caught up in doing our own thing rather than what the Lord wants from us. This includes our time in church, our worship, and our life before Him.
Praise and prayer around the altar is all well and good, however there is a prerequisite, and that is obedience. Sincere worship must begin with obedience. The words of Samuel are still true today, “Has the LORD a great delight in burnt offering 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.” (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV) Heed what? His Word! We are to obey. Jesus tell us in John, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (14:15, NKJV) In other words, obey! What then are you heeding to? Who are you listening to?
I don’t know if you have spent much time contemplating Deuteronomy 28, but it would do us all good to ponder these verses from time to time. The chapter begins, “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (28:1-2, NKJV)
A few verses later there is a dire warning, “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” (28:15, NKJV)
Oh, I can hear the rumblings–but I am free. I am not under the Law. Listen, freedom in Christ does not mean freedom to sin. We are free from the bondage of the law, we are righteous because of Christ, therefore, we should seek to do that which is righteous. I ask you, what do you listen to? To whom do you listen? What voices control your attitudes, your decisions? We are truly free, free to obey the principles of God’s Word. We have, because of God’s grace, the responsibility to obey.
Jeremiah gives us some sobering words, “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.'” (7:23-24, NKJV) Obedience brings blessing, obedience brings well-being. Go back in your mind to the picture of the dog sitting in front of the phonograph. Notice the position of its head. Leaning his ear toward the sound. What voices do you incline your ear toward?
Again the rumblings–that’s Old Testament. I don’t have to do that, I have freedom, I…I…I, and right there is the problem–the big “I”. When we do what is right in our own eyes (Judges 21:25) we always get ourselves in trouble. It can be minor or it can be severe making ourselves demigods. When “I” gets in the way of God there is a major issue. The problem is that we often do not like or want to obey. We would rather enjoy our little kingdom of self, and enjoy the satisfaction that we get from doing things our way rather than obeying the voice of the Lord and His Word.
“Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things which are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22, NKJV) John writes again, “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” (2 John 6, NKJV) I would say again, we do not obey to become saved, but because we are born again, we obey. Friend–who do you listen to? What are you listening to?