It's Your Choice

Obey: to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of. (dictionary.com)

Yes, the word a lot of us probably cringe at when we hear it! OBEDIENCE. It probably makes most of us feel like a pet, or some type of animal that should be in the zoo behind a cage. But... not quite. It's actually not that bad, depending on who your obedience is entrusted to. 

Let's start at the Genesis... Genesis 2: 15-17  ¹⁵ The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” 

Now, I think we all know what happens after this, but just in case, here's what happens... Genesis 3:1  ¹ The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Genesis 3:4-5  ⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” ⁶ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 

 

God made a command, that Adam and Eve were to obey. Though some would say that Eve didn't directly receive the command from God, she still had the conviction that she should not eat from the tree of knowledge. Immediately after disobeying the command of the Lord, guilt, shame and condemnation came upon Adam and Eve.  They felt the need to hide themselves as they discovered they were naked. They also tried to hide themselves from the presence of the LORD, who by the way is omnipresent -- meaning He is everywhere, all the time, so hiding from Him is... not very likely.

Thing is, we all know the right thing to do because it is written on our hearts. But we also have a choice to be obedient, or disobedient. We can choose life, or death. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Obedience provides us with protection, less heart break, more direction and tons of understanding. Disobedience is your own way so you're pretty much on your own, making decisions in which there's no way to know the end until you get there. Please understand that God is not some angry tyrant who tells us not to do things so we can live dull and boring lives. NO! He instructs us with His wisdom, since He is omniscient -- meaning all-knowing. He advises/instructs us not to have sex outside of marriage because He KNOWS the consequences of that (emotional distress, disease, unexpected pregnancy etc). He instructs us not to get drunk because, He also knows the effects of that (Proverbs 23:29-35). I hope you understand where I'm going with this. Think about it like this, like a loving parent instructs their toddler away from danger, God does the same for us. Like the loving Father He is, He has given us guidelines/restrictions to ensure that we live healthy lives. He loves us too much! And because He loves us so much, He has also given us freedom to choose, please, choose life. PLEASE!

When Adam and Eve disobeyed the command of God, they were deceived by Satan. Satan started off by first contradicting and questioning God, and  consequently, Eve began to entertain his advances. Do not allow the enemy, who is cunning and conniving to have a field day in your mind! Lord knows I'm guilty of allowing him to do that. But that's really no excuse, because we can't blame everything on the enemy. Besides, that wouldn't stand in the court of law right? Just because I let someone -- through manipulative influence -- deceive me into thinking murdering someone is okay, once I commit that murder, I would still be guilty and would still be due justice. Now isn't that right? Listen friends, you have a choice, to either believe lies or the truth. To be deceived, or to be enlightened.

I believe God is calling us/has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light that you may proclaim the praises of Him! 1 Peter 2:9 The day you hear His voice, harden not your heart Psalm 95:7-8. Please, I BESEECH you, obey the voice of the Lord. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and His commands are NOT burdensome...

♥ Kamaria