Why obedience is important

   1 Samuel 12:14
   If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

   Obedience is huge. We look at the New Testament and we know that God's redemption has switched from the law to mercy, salvation, and grace. But when we look at this in the wrong light we can miss some things that God still places a great emphasis on such as the fear of the Lord, service, and obedience. Those principles have not changed, but what empowers us to do these things has.

  
   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, says proverbs, and it is so true. The fear of the Lord is a healthy recognition of the depth of holiness and power that our God has. I do not fear His presence, because He is my Father. But I do understand that not until heaven will my mind be able to comprehend all of who God is. Even the angels, who have been with Him through all of eternity, still stand around His throne crying Holy, Holy, Holy! without ceasing.

   Our healthy fear of God starts in worship. We honor Him for who He is. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then worship is our classroom.

   When reading this today the Holy Spirit impressed on me that serving, in this scripture, came before hearing. You may not hear God when you have a choice to make. As frustrating as this is, He is teaching you two things. Firstly, He is reminding you of what He looks like. When you are facing a choice between doors 1,2, and 3 and God isn't telling you which to walk through, can I suggest that one of those doors looks more like God than the others? That one of those options is more in line with what He has already spoken into your life?

   Second, partnership. You see God doesn't need us to be God. But He has loved us so much that He has made the world vulnerable to the partnership that we have with Him. He will not accomplish things without us, He decided that. So one of the lessons He teaches us is that we are allowed to dream with God, to follow Him by doing what we have always dreamed of doing because some of those dreams are His that He has placed inside of His children. What Father would encourage His child to dream and then crush those dreams when they begin to pursue them?

   The fear of the Lord and service prepare your heart for obedience. Obedience is important because a rebellious heart may be able to hear the voice of the Lord, but it will always miss it's target. God does not speak the depths of His heart into a disobedient heart because that heart can never wrap itself around His truth. Perfection does not ask chaos to carry out His will. When our heart is in rebellion, it is in a state of anarchy and chaos. Rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft the bible says. Witchcraft is us surrendering our will to something or someone other than God.

   Obedience is not the requirement of a legalistic God who with holds favor based on how hard you work. Obedience is necessary to know the perfect will of God. If God spoke a word to a rebellious heart that demanded obedience, then that word would crush them because they would not have the ability to carry it out. "I have failed God again" they might say. This would cause more pain and destruction in their lives. God with holds things from rebellious hearts for their own good.

   Know how awesome God is, serve Him out of friendship, and obey His voice. This is what following Him looks like.