Obedience.  That is a word that most of us don’t like to hear.  Have you ever had someone say to you, “Obey me at once!”  Okay, most of the time they don’t say that phrase they yell it at the top of their lungs. Who is the person that yells “obey me at once?”  In my experience, they are people that have a lot of authority.  They sometimes are people that think it has to be “their way or the highway.”  They are usually people, well in the movies anyway, people that are mean-spirited.  The subject will comply out of fear and the one doing the yelling “wins” the match and stays in authority.

But is there a better way to gain someone’s obedience?  Do we have to yell at them to get them to do what we want?  I believe there is another way.  I think Paul, in Romans 1 gives us some insight into obedience that is not forced out of someone.  It is an “obedience that comes from faith.”  As followers of Christ, we don’t have to be obedient to God and the Word because God is going to “beat us over the head.”  We can respond to God’s Word through faith.  We believe through faith that God loves us.  Since God loves us and has our best interest at heart, we obey the commandments set forth in the Word of God.

Let me explain, when I was young I tried my best, even though I often failed, to obey my parents.  I did this not out of a sense of duty or fear but out of love and respect for my mom and dad.  I did what they asked because I loved them and did not want to disappoint them in any way.

I think we can and should love God for the same reasons.  We obey God because we want to show our love for God and our respect for God not because we fear God is out to get us.  God is not like Barney Fife who is out at his checkpoint chicky just waiting for you to do wrong so he can give you a ticket.  God is not hiding waiting for you to do wrong.  God is out in front of you clearing a path for you so that you can do what is right because you love God.

I am so glad that I can obey God not out of a sense of duty or feat but out a faith and love for God.  I hope that is how you obey God too!