From drudgery to joy
...and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.” “All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us. Jeremiah 42:1-6
We don't like the idea of obedience because we feel at times that it is something that is daunting and difficult to do. Yet, as a child of God, He requires obedience. Obedience is of vital importance. From the text, there are some good things, wonderful things that will never happen if the followers of God will not learn to obey God. The fulfillment of some of the promises that God pronounced from His word could only be experienced unless we obey Him. “For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us” (Jeremiah 42:6). Therefore, lack of obedience will result in missing out from His valuable blessings that we need so we could live lives pleasing before Him. If we resist obeying Him, this will result to bad consequences that otherwise we will never have to face if we just learn to grow obeying God. We obey simply because God told us to obey. Once we grow obeying Him, there will be change in perspective in life. Obedience becomes a source of joy and fulfillment and not a drudgery. Attitudes and behaviors continue to change and develop for better as we learn how to trust and be dependent upon Him. We become convinced that God knows better for we realized that God is good and faithful. As we grow in our faith in Him, obedience is no longer just a willful submission but a privilege to do what He has called us to do. We no longer feel that God is forcing us to follow Him, but we live in obedience for this is what glorifies Him.
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
