“The bottom line in the Christian life is obedience and most people don’t even like the word.” ~ Charles Stanley
It never fails. One in every three or four wedding rehearsals, either the bride-to-be or the groom-to-be jokingly puts in a request to make sure the other person promises to obey. Everyone gets a good laugh and then the rehearsal continues.
Sadly, that is often the state of obedience in today’s world: a source for laughter.
Obedience, however, is very important. The Oxford Dictionary tells us that obedience is “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.” When we speak about obedience in the Church, we generally speak about our mandate to be obedient to God. When clergy speak about obedience, we generally think about the promise of obedience we made to our ordaining bishop and his successors.
Obedience is important because there would be no order without it. If no one complied with another’s command, the world would be more lawless than it is now. There would be absolutely no predictability. There would be an everlasting chaos.
Obedience helps to shape a person’s character. It teaches humility. It engenders trust. It helps one to set an example for others.
Obedience leads people to the truth. Our obedience of God’s command and embracing of His will is the only thing that will keep us on the path to the Kingdom. It is too easy to stray. There are too many distractions in this world.
If we remain obedient to God, we will never sway and will never have to worry.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to fill your soul with the desire to be obedient to Him in all things.