As Christians, we are called to take God at His words, simply put, we are called to obey. Because we live by faith and not by sight, that obedience might look crazy to the eyes of this world including our own nevertheless that is what we must do. However, I suspect our problem with that is we do not trust the word of God spoken to us. Indeed, we are quick to dismiss it, saying it does not apply to us anymore, we are quick to find excuses and reasons for not obeying it, and we might even pride ourselves in stating that we have the “full counsel of God” yet not obey His word. We have become too acquainted with being “hearers of the word and not doers of it” (James 1:22). In Matthew 11, Jesus calls those who are weary to come to him and exchange their burden with his yoke because his yoke is easy and his burden light (Matthew 11:30). The ‘yoke’ Jesus is referring to here is obedience to his commands which is essentially following him. It is interesting that Jesus would state that obedience to him is easier than obedience to the current laws or standards of this world. In other words, Jesus claims that obedience to him is easier than obedience to the flesh. In fact, 1 John agrees with Jesus’ statement as it tells us that God’s commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). If that is the case, why do we not obey and why do we find it difficult to obey our Lord and saviour? I would like to suggest two reasons for this: 1) we do not hold a high view of God and 2) we believe God’s command is a suggestion and up for debate.
The first reason I believe we fail to obey God’s commands is because we do not hold a high view of God. Indeed, we do not ponder often at His magnificence, the fact that He created all things and is omnipotent. Such reverence helps us focus on who God is and gives us a proper view of who we are. The moment we have the right appreciation of our identity and God’s, knowing what to give to Caesar and what to give to God becomes natural. Take for example the work of Christ on the cross, because it is so familiar to us who believe, we can easily become accustomed to Jesus and then fail to see him as the important person he is. This familiarity causes us to not have a high esteem of the person of Jesus Christ thereby failing to take him at his words. In fact, many of us only think of Jesus as our brother and friend who loved us so much that he died on the cross for us. We do not always think of him as the King of kings and Lord of lords that he is (Revelation 17:14); the one who is seated at the right hand of the Father; the one under whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Matthew 28:18); the one who has pre-eminence over everything so that in everything he might be first; the one who is the firstborn over all creation and for whom all things visible and invisible have been made (Colossians 1:15-18). If our view of who Jesus is increases, then our reverence for his commands will too. This is what the bible calls the fear of the Lord. If we are not able to fear the Lord, that is to put God in His proper place, there is absolutely no way we will obey and follow His commands. No wonder the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Unfortunately, our human tendency to “deserve” something because we have “worked” for it poses a challenge to how we view God. We see it plainly when we come to Christ because one of the first prideful attitude God kills in us is thinking that we deserved anything or that we “worked” for it. In Christ, all we need to do is accept what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. We come as repentant sinners and we accept his sacrifice for us on the cross. That surrendering is difficult for many of us because we see for a fact that we do not deserve it as we did not do anything to deserve it nor could we do anything to deserve it. This right view of God is what we ought to have as we keep the focus away from us and toward God.
The second reason I believe we fail to obey God’s commands is because we think it is a suggestion and up for debate. Indeed, when we read the commands of Jesus or the commands by God the Father, we see how simple and clear they are but, we like to over analyze, rationalize, and discuss whether or not a command is a command. We often want to tell God what He meant by His command. It is pure foolishness and no one in their right mind would agree to doing this but that is what we do whenever we rationalize His word. Take for example the command to “flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), many of us would willingly put ourselves in situations where we will not be able to “flee” sexual immorality because we would say things like “I am strong enough” or “I do not have feelings for this or that person” or another will say “this act I am doing is not sexual immorality because the bible does not explicitly say it is”. However, the command remains to flee, so every time we obey our own passions or our own thoughts, we disobey God and are at enmity with Him. Sexual immorality is just an example, but the same principle applies to all areas of our lives. What we are commanded to do by God touches everything in our life; what we watch, how we talk, how we dress, etc. I am convinced that if we were simply taking God at His words, we would be better off, and things would go so well for us. A very poignant scripture that comes to mind is this: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” (Ephesians 5:3-4). Paul is very clear in these verses as to what the Christian should be and how he or she should behave. We are holy people and holiness is what God expects (“be holy as I am holy” – 1 Peter 1:16). Such commands indeed, are not “burdensome”, especially when you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you because He helps you obey them. Psalm 19 calls the commands of God “perfect”, “trustworthy”, “right”, “radiant”, “pure”, “sure”, “more precious than gold” and “sweeter than honey” (Psalm 19:7-10). Jesus’ yoke is light because it reflects the same attributes of the commands of God as listed in Psalm 19. Moreover, his commands 1) revive the soul; 2) make wise the simple; 3) give joy to the heart; 4) give light to the eyes; 5) endure forever. This is what we get when we take Jesus’ yoke in exchange of ours. It is only a win! The desires of the flesh want to trick us into believing that Jesus’ commands are burdensome but there are not, they give life! On the contrary, it is following the desires of the flesh that bring death to us. It is camouflaged as being good for the soul but the moment you fall into the trap, you start dealing with the consequences which are often dire.
What then is the remedy? It is to cultivate a life of reverence for our God (Father-Son-Holy Spirit). The smaller our view of Him, the more likely we are to disobey His commands and vice-versa. To cultivate a high view of God, starts with knowing God as revealed in the bible. It is important to take the time to read the word of God and to meditate on it, focusing on who He is, pausing to think about what He has done and how He has done things will cause us to be in awe of His majesty. As Deuteronomy 8 reminds us, the act of remembering the commands of God and not forgetting the God of our fathers is the key to keeping Him highly exalted and to obeying His commands. I pray you grow the habit of pursuing the Lord and obeying His commands. May the Lord increase your capacity to know Him more so that you are able to say wholeheartedly like David “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (Psalm 119:97). May you surrender to the Father and take Him at His words. Remember, we are not called to lean on our own understanding when it comes to obeying God’s commands, we are simply called to trust in Him.
A Word Aptly Spoken 