Discipline Comes

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22, NIV).

How much do we obey God? Is it all of the time or do we deliberately disobey some of His commands? I’m reminded of what a dear friend always says to me: “A little obedience is disobedience.” If we are only obeying God when it seems good to us then we are truly not obeying Him. I remember when I was a youth, one of my chores was to clean the bathroom and I went to the bathroom and only cleaned the tub. Punishment came to me from my parents because I did not clean the whole bathroom. It is the same way with God. We cannot only obey part of what He tells us to do and expect it to please Him.

On this journey, as believers we are not going to get everything right. We are going to make mistakes and the Word says that God’s grace and mercy are new every morning. This means He gives grace for those things that were done unintentionally and His mercy is shown when we “act up” in the heat of the moment. He convicts our heart and we ask for forgiveness.  Praise God for His steadfast love that will cover all of our wrongs when we have a heart of sorrow and humility when we come to Him. 

God does not delight in our disobedience. Many people believe that because we don’t see God in the “natural” and punishment does not come right away, we will not suffer the consequence of our behavior, but that is far from the truth. God is a God of righteousness and justice and He will discipline those He loves and bring eternal justice to those who continue to disobey Him.

Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11

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