The Heart of Obedience

"If you love me, obey my commandments." -- John 14:15 (NLT)

“Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.” That line and the first notes of this song are forever embedded in my brain. It is a song we came home from Vacation Bible School singing on repeat. In a way, it’s a good kind of an earworm to have. But what is obedience and what are the “commandments” we are to obey?

My little brothers came home from Sunday School with this saying. “Obedience is doing ‘it’, doing ‘it’ right away, and HAPPILY!” They would say the last part with great enthusiasm.

Scripture directs children to obey their parents “in the Lord,” and to everyone else, we are told to simply obey His commandments.

Too often, we think of obedience only in terms of our actions; what we do or don’t do. But let me use this illustration:

I posed the question to a set of twins in my Sunday school class. Your parents ask you to clean your rooms, if Maddy grumbles and complains but cleans her room, but Wade says okay then goes outside and plays, who has obeyed?

Much discussion and reading of Scripture helped them decide that neither one obeyed. As parents, of course, we want our children to obey without giving us grief, but we also want their rooms cleaned, so sometimes we have the outlook of “as long as it gets done, I don’t care how bad your attitude is.”

But God knows our hearts. He knows if we are being obedient despite what our outward actions show. Proverbs 23:7 reminds us obedience begins in our hearts and minds, not our actions.

Jeremiah 17:8-9 Hits the nail on the head about our motivation:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

But I, the Lord, search all hearts

and examine secret motives.

I give all people their due rewards,

according to what their actions deserve.”

The Lord searches our hearts for the motive that drives our action—or lack thereof.

This past year, I have been focusing my study on obedience—not through our actions, but by our state of being, the attitude and posture of our hearts. I call this study “The Be-Attitudes of the Christian Walk.” More than our actions, He wants our attitudes to be aligned with His commandments.

Most people can obey the big ones, the Ten Commandments, but that does not make them obedient to the One who wrote them. Being obedient, however, requires an understanding of the greatest commandment.

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

The very nature of obedience is love, an outpouring from the depths of our hearts. So, it IS important what we do, but MOST important is how and why we do it.

We tend to think of obeying the obvious; don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t covet. Sometimes it is hard to remember all the does and don’ts. The beauty of salvation is that we have been given an advocate, a helper to remind us of and guide us in the path of righteousness.

This brings me to a final thought, one that has been shaping my own walk. If we have invited Him to live in us and we are abiding in Him, we have made the first step toward obedience. He has given us His Word to understand the challenge and blessing of obedience I encourage you to join me in studying Scripture on how He wants us to BE.

Be still, be kind and compassionate, be loving and patient, be joyful, hopeful, and grateful to name only a few.

If you would like to read more about the “Be-attitudes” of the Christian walk, you can go to my Blog, Soul Water, by clicking this link.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Do you struggle with being outwardly “obedient” while sinning in your heart? (Not a trick question, most of us do.)

2. How can you move from obedience in action only to having a heart attitude of surrender to the One who loves us enough to want our devotion--because He knows what is best for us? (Hint: Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”).