Obedience Is Not Optional

by Rita Langeland
© 2005 Hidden With Christ Ministries

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…
I Samuel 15:22

The word obedience means to carry out the will and desire of another person. In our modern era, there has been such a high value placed upon personal independence in western society that the word “obedience” has almost a negative connotation. And yet to God, obedience from His children is a precious thing. God honors and blesses the one who has a heart of obedience to God. Though God has given to every single person He created a “free will” to choose to live his life as he wishes, for a child of God, obedience is not optional. We could choose to not obey God, but it would rob us of our divine destiny. Obedience to God leads to a fulfillment of divine destiny while disobedience leads to its loss.

Let’s look at a few Bible characters that demonstrate this truth. In the book of Genesis we find the amazing story of Noah. The Bible tells us this about Noah: Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Gen 6:9 NKJV)

When it says that Noah was a “just” man, it means “lawful” or you could say he was a man who was obedient to God’s laws. The second attribute that verse mentions is that Noah was “perfect” in his generations. The word perfect used there actually means “undefiled.” It tells us that Noah managed to stay pure in the midst of a very wicked generation that is described in Genesis chapter six. The last statement about Noah’s character in that verse is that Noah “walked with God.” This means that Noah walked in continual fellowship or communion with the Lord.

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it…. (Genesis 6:13-15 NKJV)

It is obvious from these scriptures that Noah could hear the voice of God and that he was able to receive specific instructions from God. Many people today would love to hear God’s voice and receive His specific directions. Yet they do not have the same level of dedication to the Lord that Noah evidenced in his life, in the sense that they are not careful to keep themselves pure in the middle of a wicked and perverse generation as Noah did. They watch the same movies, and TV programs that the rest of the world watches polluting their spirit with thoughts and visual images that are contrary to God’s Word, and yet go to church on Sunday and want to hear from God. I believe that such things will block a person from being able to hear God’s voice.

After receiving very specific directions from God in how to build the ark, the Bible tells us how Noah responded: Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him, so he did. (Genesis 6:22) Noah obeyed God even though the instructions God gave him must have seemed bizarre in light of his culture. First of all, there had never been a flood on the earth at that time in history. Bible teaches and Bible scholars believe that there had never been any rain on the earth up until that point. The earth was watered by a mist that rose from the ground.

So the idea of building a mammoth boat to save his family and a whole lot of animals from a flood that was coming to the earth through an unrelenting rainstorm was utterly unfathomable. But Noah was willing to bear the ridicule of his neighbors in order to obey God even when the command must have seemed strange even to him. Many people today fear the disapproval of others and bow to the pressure of people’s opinions rather than obey the voice of God even when they know God is speaking to them to do a certain thing.

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
(Gen. 7:17, 23)

As a result of Noah’s obedience he was saved from imminent disaster and death. But not only did he avoid a premature death, Noah fulfilled his personal destiny because of his obedience to God. Since he and his family were the only humans left upon the earth, God used them to repopulate the planet. God started over with a man who loved, honored and obeyed the Lord. Noah fulfilled the destiny God had for him because of his obedience.

We don’t have to look too far to find Biblical examples of people who chose to disobey God and as a result forfeited the divine destiny God had planned for them. King Saul was one of those people. He was a reluctant king, having been chosen by the people of Israel against his own desires. Yet God wanted him to be a good king, and would have blessed him and helped him had he been an obedient king.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance?” (1 Samuel 10:1)

But when given instructions from the Lord through the prophet Samuel, Saul obeyed only partially, which is equivalent to disobedience in God’s eyes. When told to go and destroy a certain city and all the inhabitants as well as the cattle and sheep and goats, Saul and the people returned from the battle having saved all the best of the animals. When Samuel confronted Saul about his disobedience to do exactly as God instructed, Saul protested.

“But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”
(1 Samuel 15:20-23 NIV)

Saul forfeited his divine destiny by his disobedience. God had anointed him and had a plan for his life yet he never fulfilled it. Many people are like Saul. God has called them, anointed them and has a divine purpose for their lives and yet they allow disobedience to rob them. They essentially forfeit their divine destiny by choosing disobedience. A wise man once said, "The cost of obedience is nothing compared to the cost of disobedience!"

Years ago we knew a Christian man who had a beautiful family and was very involved in church and ministry. This man confided in my husband that God had spoken to him and had given him some very specific instructions. These instructions had to do with future ministry that God had in store for him. It would require that he move his family some 600 miles away. He also said that God told him that he could choose. So the man chose not to move as God had instructed him because it was inconvenient at the time with regard to the children's schooling and his own work situation. Time passed and his work situation deteriorated, his children got into trouble and the entire family ceased going to church. To this day the family is not fulfilling the destiny that God had intended for them and they are far from the Lord. Disobedience opens the door for the enemy and robs people of their divine destiny.

A key to this issue is understanding that obedience begins in the small things. Many Christians would profess that they would obey God if asked to do some great exploit for Him, yet they do not obey in the smallest areas of life. God whispers a command to give an offering to a certain person or ministry, or to rise early and pray, or to go and speak a word of encouragement to someone, and out of fear or laziness or preoccupation with other things, they disobey. God tests our obedience in these small things. He is looking for obedient hearts to entrust with His high callings. Jesus said, "Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters." (Luke 16:10 CEV)

Don't miss out on your divine destiny! Begin by obeying in the small things.

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