Wednesday 1 November 2017

Belief and obedience

So, as the Holy Spirit says:
       “Today, if you hear his voice,
       do not harden your hearts
       as you did in the rebellion,
       during the time of testing in the desert,             
       where your fathers tested and tried me
       and for forty years saw what I did.”                                               Heb. 3.7-9


The words quoted here are from Psalm 95. They refer to the desert experience of the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt. They warn of unbelief and disobedience. The reality of these words was seen throughout the forty years in the desert. The Israelites were constantly disbelieving and disobeying. The psalmist raised the warning to the people of his day to alert them against the twin evils of disbelief and disobedience. The writer to the Hebrews similarly alerted his readers. The warning is relevant today!

I believe disbelief spawns disobedience, but I prefer to consider the reverse of this. May my belief spur me and lead me into obedience. As I embrace God in true belief, I take seriously the words of Jesus, “Come, follow me.” Jesus lived to obey the Father’s will. I choose to follow Him. I give myself to the Father’s will. Thus obedience ensues. This is not always easy, but I persevere.

In belief and obedience I then expect to hear the voice of God. I expect to hear, and I do hear! I hear and I rejoice that the great God, and my wonderful heavenly Father, speaks to me.



Mighty God and Holy Father,
I thank You that You touched me in such a real way so many years ago. You showed me Jesus and I believed. You drew me into relationship and I received. You speak to me and I rejoice. I thank You.          Amen.


No comments:

Post a Comment