daily devotional

Daily Devotional: The Profit of Obedience - February 7

“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” Hebrews 5:8

The decision as to whether you obey or disobey is a factor of pain; if the perceived pain of obedience is higher than disobedience, then you disobey, and vice versa.

You live most of your life obeying the various authorities, because you perceive that it is in your interest to be compliant. Before beginning a flight you don’t struggle with the attendant over wearing a seat belt. Its benefit is apparent to you. Most laws seem reasonable and you have no problem obeying them. The true test of obedience, however, comes when you, like the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane, face one of God’s commands you do not want to obey. Since there are times when you obey and times when you disobey, how do you decide?

You may not sit and consciously calculate the cost/results ratio, but in reality that is what you do. Do you want to pay the price of disobedience and do you know what it is? You don’t want to obey because in some form there is pain involved. It may be physical, mental, or the pain of inconvenience. Whatever the case, you weigh your options. You live your life believing that, within limits, you can disobey authority without suffering negative consequences. Why do you violate the speed laws, jaywalk, or possibly lie, and cheat? You believe there to be minimum risk of getting caught, or that the potential price is not that high. If you are smart enough to disobey temporal authority without paying the price (and you are), you are not cleaver enough to avoid eternal consequences.

The price of disobedience is higher than the price of obedience; if not in the arena of the temporal, for sure in the eternal. An omniscient, omnipresent God will call you to account “in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Chris.” 58 No one will go to heaven glad that they sinned, but they will be glad they obeyed. .

58 - Romans 2:16

This daily devotional is provided by the Leadership Foundation (www.leadershipfoundation.org) & Walter Hendrichsen.

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