Written by Kaylyn Hausmann
Obedience to God comes with many rewards. Apart from His Son Jesus Christ, Freewill is the second greatest gift that God has given to mankind. It is also one of the strongest forces that we have in life and the only thing we have control over. What we choose to do with our freewill determines our closeness to God, our destiny, and the condition of our relationships. Our obedience to God is our free-will offering and is a beautiful sacrifice to God that He cherishes. He even prefers obedience over sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). It is a perfect harmonious act when we make the conscious decision to follow God wholeheartedly. When we are obedient to God, we are communicating that His ways are better than our own and that we trust Him above all that the world has to offer.
God’s desire is that we experience eternal life in this lifetime.
There are some deep truths about obedience that will remain true throughout our lifetime. First, obedience is for our gain in the long run. Although God is pleased and desires that we walk in His ways, ultimately our own decisions will affect our lives and others around us directly and indirectly, short term and long term. The word of God says in Galatians 6:7,
“Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked, a man reaps what he sows. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
We are given a blueprint in His word of what God’s will, character, and commandments are so that there is no confusion. Being obedient to God supersedes our emotions, higher than our intellect, and will only make sense after we sow into the spirit that we can truly appreciate all of the rewards for being obedient. Why does God choose to veil the promised blessings? Romans 5:4 says “endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Character is built in the process of being obedient to God; we are refined, molded, transformed, equipped, and prepared for the promise during the process so that when his blessings do come, we can handle, appreciate, and protect it. The same free will that led us to his blessings is the same free-will that maintains, stewards, and protects the blessings. Think of free-will as the vehicle, obedience as the action, and his blessings as the result.
Obedience will most certainly produce fruit in due season.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
God’s timing is perfect and the fruit of His blessings will manifest in many different forms. It can be financial, relational, spiritual, in the form of wisdom and knowledge, an increase level of faith, gained spiritual authority and power, and fruits of the spirit including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. When we are in the perfect will of God, He promises to protect our lives and shield us from the evils and the ways of the world that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He will enlighten our spiritual eyes to see the hidden agenda of the enemy, help us to remove the idols in our heart, provide healing and deliverance from our past, and remove the sins and habits so that easily entangle us (Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 12:1). He will empower us to walk the straight and narrow path in front of us to bring divine order into our life (Matthew 7:14).
God is looking for modern day Noah’s who are willing to do a new thing on earth with God through radical obedience,
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
God’s ways and character will remain the same, but He chooses to express it uniquely through each one of us. We are all created in the image of God and therefore through Him we become conduits of the impossible. No man or spirit can come against the plans and the purposes that God has for your life. When God opens a door, no man can shut it.
If you aline yourself up to God’s will, He will give you the desires of your heart and your spiritual inheritance that comes through the grace of God,
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:40).
“God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality” (Ephesians 6:9). He responds to a heart that is whole heartedly devoted to Him and has received His invitation of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. Never give up, keep going, stand strong, and stand firm.