Remember when your mother said that? It was because you had questioned her instructions. Now she didn’t say that because your question stumped her. She said it because maybe she didn’t have time to explain it or because you wouldn’t have understood it if she did. The basic idea behind “because I said so” is “just trust me and obey”. She understood that your obedience was for your benefit. We’re gonna be talking about that today, so stick around and we’ll be right back.
Last week we started talking about the kingdom keys that will unlock the rooms in God’s house of abundant life. These are the keys to moving your life forward in the direction God designed you to go.
We learned that we have to move past the foyer to discover the other rooms and what they hold for us.
That generosity is the key to unlock the door of financial freedom. We are supposed to give generously and watch God bring us more…for the benefit of others.
And also, that our Praise is the key that unlocks the door to Joy and Encouragement. We are supposed to make a joyful sound during a sad situation and that will turn our focus away from our circumstances and toward the King, who can turn it around.
This week we will continue down the hall and discover another room and the key to unlock it’s potential for your life.
Before we start, let’s pray and ask God to open our eyes and ears to His word and what it means.
Let’s begin with a completely unrealistic hypothetical situation.
What if you told your child specifically not to do a thing, but then they did it anyway. I know that sounds crazy and it would never happen in real life, but just go with it for a minute.
Would you rather A: They spend their own money to buy you a present to try and make up for disobeying your instructions? Or B: That they had just obeyed what you told them not to do, so they wouldn’t have gotten into trouble in the first place?
This is what the bible means when it says that obedience is better than sacrifice.
1 Samuel 15:22 “Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings 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.”
The sacrifice your child would offer to make up for their disobedience does not carry the same weight of importance as actually obeying your instructions I the beginning.
If we obey to begin with, a sacrifice will not be necessary.
When Adam disobeyed God, he created the need for a sacrifice to cover his sin. Without his disobedience there would have been no need for Jesus to come as the sacrifice to cover our sin.
Now obviously you know it’s not just kids that have trouble with this. We, as God’s children also find ourselves asking why we need to obey, and God simply says “Because I said so…it’s for your own benefit.”
There was a song we used to sing in church when I was growing up. They lyrics were “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”. I get that now.
Obedience is a very big deal…and this is why.
God, as the King, built this world with laws concerning how it should operate and we should trust that He knows what’s best for us and obey them. But how do we know that we can trust the Kings laws are truly for our benefit?
Because His reputation is on the line if His laws are not true. If the world can operate just fine outside of God’s laws, then His laws are not true.
For instance, God created fish and built into them a law that says fish must be in the water to survive. It’s the opposite for dogs. It’s a law that dogs must live on the land to survive.
You don’t see a fish trying to live is life out of the water or a dog trying to live under the water. If that were possible, it would break the laws that God put in place and His reputation would be in jeopardy.
Based on the way God designed the fish, it is perfectly suited to live under water and the dog is perfectly designed to live on the land.
But what happens if the fish decides that he would rather live where the dog does because he feels that God’s law is restricting his freedom to live wherever he wants.
If the fish breaks the law God put in place and tries to live outside of the water, he dies. Because he was not designed for that life.
That’s the result of breaking the law of the king…you destroy your own life. It’s the price you pay for living by your own laws and not by the ones your designer and creator made…for your benefit.
The king put the law in place for the protection of the fish, because he was designed to function perfectly in his proper environment.
As long as the fish obeys the law and stays in the water, he will be successful living his best life. And that’s what you see in nature. Everything operates the way God designed it to function.
As far as I know, there is only one exception to that. PEOPLE
People are the only ones in all of creation that God has a problem with, when it comes to abandoning His laws for our own made up laws.
Do you remember the 10 Commandments? These days, people think of the 10 Commandments as just a bunch of old fashioned rules that God uses to make us miserable.
We even want to have them removed from pubic places so that we are not reminded of our disobedience. Out of sight, out of mind.
We are rebelling against God’s laws, because we don’t want to have our freedom restricted. People will say, “Who is God to tell me how I should live my life?”
I’ll tell you who He is.
He’s the one who designed you and knows how/where/why you are supposed to function.
If you want to know the capabilities of something, you ask the manufacturer. Because only the original manufacturer knows why they created it and what it’s capable of. And if it’s pushed beyond it’s limits or used for the wrong purpose, it will break…and when it does, it needs to be returned to the original manufacturer for repair.
When our life goes sideways, we want to blame God, but maybe it’s us or other people close to us not living by the laws God built into us for how we should function. If someone is pushing you beyond your limits or using you for the wrong purpose, you have to remove yourself before you break.
And if you do break, the only one who is qualified to put you back together is your original manufacturer…God.
God created you, He is the only one who knows why you were created and only He knows your capabilities. You can do everything He created you to do! He built it into you, when he made you. You’ve got everything you need to do what He made you to do.
His laws are there not only for your protection, but for your success. When you function the way God intended, you will be successful, because that is the law He built into you.
OK, back to the 10 commandments.
Here is a question for you to consider:
Which one of the 10 commandments…God’s laws for man, if you broke it, would make your life better? Would you have a better life if you were known as a murderer? How about a thief or maybe a lier?
God’s laws are for our benefit.
Our rebellion and disobedience against God’s laws are killing us.
I’ll say it again…Obedience is a very big deal.
Now that we have established that fact. Let’s continue walking down the hall in God’s house of abundant life past the keys of generosity and praise, to see if we can find a door labeled “obedience”.
Well, there it is. And the key in the box on the table outside the door is labeled “Meditation, Joshua 1:8”
Meditation is the key to Obedience
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it…”
Meditation is how we stay focused on the word of God. And when we are constantly focusing our thoughts on the Word, it is easier to do what it says.
Meditation is just the practice of saying something over and over so you can remain focused on it.
Obedience is the Key to Prosper and Success
“…for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
Your obedience to God’s word will make your way prosperous and successful. Remember, your obedience is for your benefit.
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
The one thing that is common to both men in the story is that they both built houses and then the rain fell, the floods came and the wind blew…on both of their houses.
To be safe when the storm comes you have to do more than just listen to the Word. You have to do what Jesus says if you want a solid foundation for your life.
You can’t listen to enough sermons or read enough theology books to create the successful life that God wants for you. Information is good, but it’s not enough. You have to meditate on God’s word so it becomes your natural response.
Remember a couple weeks ago we talked about how as ambassadors and citizens of heaven, the Kings opinion on a matter is what we are supposed to represent. Meditating on His word is how we can be ready with His opinion when a situation arises.
We have to build our life on the rock of obeying what the word says. Because one thing is sure…just like the 2 guys in the parable…it’s getting cloudy and the rain is coming.
Jesus says that when you act on His words it will provide you an unshakable foundation for the life you are building.
Remember the verse in 1 Samuel we opened with that says obedience is better than sacrifice?
Let’s look at the context of why Samuel said that. He was talking to Saul the king of Israel.
1 Samuel 15:13-23 “13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”
17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22 Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings 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.
23
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul put the key of obedience into the door of success, but he only turned it half way…and it kept him locked out. If you only half way obey, it’s still disobedience.
Saul had it all, he was the king of Israel, but he ended up destroying the life of success that God had created him for, because he wanted to live by his own laws and not trust and obey the words of God.
Have you been living by your own set of laws? Are you ready to accept that God created you and has set in place a set of perfect laws that you can follow for success? God has created you to function according to His word and that’s the only place you will find the fulfillment of your purpose.
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