ARE GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS, OR COMMANDS TO BE OBEYED?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere.
Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
(Deuteronomy 13:4)

MEDITATION:
When we read a command in the Bible,
whether we understand it or not, we ought to obey it.
Failure to obey is an indication that we either don’t like it, or we don’t trust it.
And if we don’t trust it, then our faith is questionable,
because faith and trust are the same with one exception:
faith says, “I believe”, and trust includes, “I will obey”.
The former involves thought, but the latter requires action.

Some commands instruct us to avoid things that displease God,
while others tell us what to do if we have a desire to please God.
We may do well in avoiding the sinful things, but fail miserably
when it comes to obeying God’s commands to do the things that please Him.

We are told in God’s word that people of faith are called to action,
and when we fail to answer His call, we are deceiving ourselves.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says. (James 1:22)

As an example, in God’s Word we are told to:
‘inspire each other to love and do good deeds’, to ‘encourage each other’, and to
‘continue meeting together, and especially as the return of Christ gets nearer’.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

How are believers obeying these ‘commands’?
Not very well, since only about 17% are attending church on a weekly basis
(and it may be even less now, since these statistics were from about 10 years ago).
We should not be surprised at the increase of churches closing
their doors around the world (and the majority of them are in America).
Imagine the discouragement for the pastor and staff of the churches which
are “hanging on by a thread”, when they see a growing number of empty pews.

Too many professing Christians have chosen to replace the commands
in Hebrews with pleasing themselves, instead of pleasing God.
Rather than accepting God’s instructions as commands,
many have chosen to view them as suggestions, which are optional.
Satan loves it when he can persuade us to substitute human reasoning for obedience.

Failing to obey God’s commands to “do”
are just as sinful as failing to obey His commands to “not do”.
In both cases, it is a refusal to obey God!
Too often, we want to tell God how He ought to do things.
We want Him to modify His commands to fit our lifestyles and desires,
rather than changing our lifestyles and desires to fit His commands.
It is an indication that we have allowed Satan too much influence in our thoughts.

The Bible is not first and foremost a book to be explained,
it is a book to be believed and obeyed.
The more we read it,
the more we realize how differently God’s thoughts are from ours.

We can imagine those early apostles
when they first met Paul and saw him persecuting believers.
Those well-meaning Christians could have been praying
for God to strike Paul dead, but what did God do?
He struck Paul alive! And, aren’t you glad He did?

ACTION:
God does not depend on man’s advice to determine His actions.
We cannot think and understand things on the same level as God, but we
can exercise our faith and trust in Him through obedience to His commands.

Read the words in Isaiah 55:8-9,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.

and in Proverbs 3:5-6,
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for trusting in my way instead of Your
ways. Forgive me for choosing to ignore or modify Your commands,
because they interfere with the way I want to live my life. Help me to
take Your commands more seriously and to have a renewed desire to
obey them faithfully as confirmation that I love and trust You. Thank
You for loving me enough to send Your only Son to give His life for
the selfish sins in my life. Thank You for Your plans for me; help me
to accept and enjoy following the path You have chosen for me.”

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