One of the most important aspects of a believers life is walking in obedience. I’m not talking so much about the “big” things as I am the little or the common things. It’s easy enough to focus on major issues in our lives and forget about the simple, the common things that we must obey. Sometimes even in the busyness of life, our circumstances, even going about the Lord’s work, we can neglect to obey God in common things and impede the work that God wants to do in us and through us.
This was so powerfully enforced to me this last Sunday by our associate pastor Mike Hill. He is teaching on submission in our lessons in leadership class and it has been powerful. He brought up an Old Testament incident I had never seen before, it’s in Exodus 4. Moses has been given the responsibility of delivering Israel from bondage. God has just given him instructions on how he would deliver Israel and what part Moses was to play in that deliverance. Moses is on his way to begin his destiny and verse 24 says that on the way, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. What??? God had just given Moses all the instructions to be a deliverer and now he’s going to kill him?? Why? Because of this. Moses had 2 sons. God had commanded him to circumcise them. He had done so with Gershom, his first born, but had not yet done so with his youngest son. In all the busyness of being deliverer, Moses forgot to follow through on God’s command to him. The deliverance of Israel was in jeopardy because of one small act of disobedience. Why would God do such a thing? Because he takes obedience seriously. It was only when Moses’ wife Zipporah, realized what was happening, stepped in and circumcised the boy, that Moses was spared ( thank God for wives that hear from God). Ask Achan, ask Saul, ask David, ask Annanias and Saphira, ask anyone who has had their destiny derailed by disobedience and they will tell you that God demands total obedience.
Now we know that God (hopefully) is not going to kill us for being disobedient, but how many times have we impeded the work of God in our lives because we choose to not obey, no matter how small or insignificant we think it is. Moses was so focused on being deliverer that he forgot that obedience is valued over service.
So, this brought me to the place I have been in for the last few days, and that is searching my heart to see if there was that one thing that I had not been obedient in. God has shown me that I have to go back and be obedient in some areas I have neglected, so I now have the choice to do so and complete the destiny God has, or continue to impede Holy Spirit’s work in my life.
Some of you maybe thinking “ well, that’s old covenant thinking. We live under Grace now”. Let’s make this as clear as possible. Old covenant or new covenant, God still demands obedience. Grace is not an excuse to walk in disobedience. Read Paul’s writings. He says repeatedly that we cannot use Grace as an excuse to walk in disobedience. I challenge you today to stop, step back from life’s demands and even the work that God has for you to do, and do a heart check. Let Holy Spirit reveal any area that you need to be obedient in.
I hope this challenges you as it has me. I don’t want anything to keep me from walking in the complete destiny God has for me no matter how great or how small. How about you?
