Day 76 - It’s Time…To Obey!
Jesus was and is the master story teller of all time! Nobody can tell a story like the Lord. In just three short verses recorded in Matthew, chapter 21, Jesus drives home an incredibly important truth. The story is thus, ‘What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.†(Matthew 21:28-30) Our Lord then asks a question of his listeners. “Which of the two did the will of his father?…†(verse 31) The answer is obvious; the first son did the will of his father, even though he initially had declined to be obedient.
Jesus told this story to illustrate the fact that there are many who think they’re going to make it to heaven, but in reality will not. And there are those who we’d never think would make it to heaven that indeed will be there. What makes the difference? Obedience.
I Samuel 15:22 reveals the heart of God toward us, “…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.†Did you catch that phrase in this verse? To obey is better than sacrifice.
As you live your life for Jesus today, are you willing to obey God as He directs your life? James challenges us to be “…doers of the word, and not hearers only…†(James 1:22)
God delights in our obedience. Our obedience is the outward manifestation that we truly do trust the Lord. Faith results in a life of obedience—it’s an undeniable evidence of the work of God in our lives.
It’s time to obey God!
Today’s Scripture Promise: “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’†(Acts 5:29)