Obedience is So Important
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46, ESV
I was driving home from the Bay Area around 2:00 pm which is a high traffic time. I put my home address in the GPS to see if there was a shorter route. The GPS gave me directions to get off the main highway and head in a different direction. I had gone the way the GPS wanted me to go before, and I did not want to go that way because of all the back roads. So I did not follow those instructions I received. While sitting in traffic I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Why are you not following the instructions? If you don’t want to follow the instructions given, then turn it off. It is like me giving you instructions, but you want to do things your own way.”
I knew then that I was in the midst of receiving a lesson from the Holy Spirit. I waited and then the GPS begin to say, “Take this next exit for a 20 minuets faster route to your destination.” I was like, “Oh yeah! I can do this because this exit will not take me back to that back road path that I had taken before!” But when I got off the exit it literally took me all the way back to the path I did not want to take. I was so bummed. As I sat at the exit it reminded me of how God gives us instructions, and we don’t follow them. But when we decide to obey him we start at that same place he told us to in the beginning. I started to tell God (as if he did not already know) that I did not want to go that way because I did not like all the back roads. About ten minuets into the route the GPS said there was a 30 minute delay on this highway so it began rerouting me to Interstate 5. I was so excited because that is the way I wanted to go in the beginning! The direction the GPS gave me to get back to Interstate 5 avoided all the traffic. I mean I literally traveled all the way to the Interstate 5 without any traffic! When I got back to the highway I was maybe 40 minuets away from my home.
I then heard the Holy Spirit say, “When you follow my instructions, it may not look like what you want, but I know what’s best for you and understand the desires of your heart.” I cannot begin to tell you the route I took to get home, but following those instructions brought me to where I was trying to get to without the Bay Area traffic! I believe that was God’s ultimate plan. See I wanted to avoid that back road path, but the Holy Spirit had never planned to take me that way. I just needed to do what the GPS said.
Obedience keeps us in alignment and gets us to the things God has put in our heart. Remember how King David stayed obedient to God and never put his hands on King Saul; even when God put King Saul into his hands? David did not take matters into his own hands. Every move we take does one of two things, it draws us closer to the desire God has placed in our heart, or it moves us away from it. If you want to receive all that God has for you, continue to walk in obedience. What does that look like? Following his instructions. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. Meditate on the word day and night. Trust in the Lord with all that heart, and lean not on your own understanding. That is exactly what David did he trusted God. When I was sitting with my GPS I was starting to lean on my own understanding and that was taking me out of alignment. Keep your heart after God and you will succeed in all that he has given to you!
Key points:
Faith is trusting even when you do not understand his instructions.
Every instruction has purpose.
Leaning on your own understanding will lead you out of his path.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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