Welcome, and thank you for listening to the Cultivating Growth Podcast, where each and every week we pick a biblical topic that we can look at and discuss together, that we can work on together in order to grow in that whatever topic and in our relationship with God. This week, we're going to talk about cultivating our growth in regards to our obedience.

So I'm looking forward to this conversation. Let's get right to it. 

Jeremy, the idea of Obedience is, is something that, you know, each of us as fathers have tried to instill within our children and we want them to be obedient as they grow up. But really as adults, I think sometimes that conversation gets lost a little bit because we can make our own decisions now and we can do things our own way.

Now we don't have. Parents telling us what to do or anything like that. But the idea of obedience as a Christian must be ever present in our minds. It is something that Jesus himself has quite a bit to say about. And certainly many of the New Testament and Old Testament writers alike talk about the importance of being obedient to God.

And so even though we are grown and we can make our own decisions the idea of being obedient is something that we still have a responsibility to study and to talk about and to make sure that we understand the importance of, and then to grow in that area and to make sure that every day I am working on being a more obedient follower of Jesus, because that is what he asks.

He says 14, if you love me, you're going to love me. Keep my commandments. And so my, my love for Jesus hinges on whether or not I'm willing to be obedient to him. That's how important this conversation is. And so we have a responsibility, I think, to spend some time talking about it. And certainly trying to grow in that area.

Yeah, I mean, you used a great illustration in the very beginning with our physical children and us as parents. And our call on them to obey what we say, right? We have the best, we have their best interest in mind. And then now you start to see, certainly even with young children, And us as Christians, as God's children, certainly love is connected to that.

You may have mentioned already from John and his writings. But you know, you start to understand that what it comes down to in a lot of ways is trust, right? It is trusting in God that he has the best way, that he has our best interest. And so when he asks something of us, or asks something of us to stay away from, I'm going to obey that because I trust him.

And so you can go to the very beginning of God's book, you can go to the very beginning of the Bible, and you can work your way from literally the very beginning to literally the very end, and you will see example after example after example, that obedience, and And relationship, they go together in a lot of ways that God says, if you want to have a relationship with me, you need to listen to what I say.

And there's positive examples of that.  He listened to God in very specific instructions when it came to building the Ark, and we have very simple passages that showcase that. Thus, Noah did according to all that the Lord says.  But at the same time, we have examples of when God lays out something, a direct message. 

that, that his anger is aroused and his wrath is aroused. You see that with Adam and Eve, don't eat of this tree, they eat of that tree. And so there's punishment. You see it, you know, throughout the book of Genesis, you see it with Achan and Joshua chapter seven, when he says, Hey, after Jericho, don't take anything out of there.

He took something out of there. He went against what God had said. And so there's punishment that comes because of that. And then you can find those examples. Not just at the beginning of the Bible, but throughout the Bible, that showcase that this is something to God that is pretty interested, that he's interested in.

Because ultimately, if we're not willing to obey, we don't trust him. And if we don't trust him, we don't believe him. And if none of those things happen, we don't have a relationship with him. I think You just drew a really important contrast to consider that there are multiple reasons as to why we obey and all of these reasons that you just kind of illustrated are relevant to us as followers of God.

I obey him because I don't want his wrath to be poured out upon me. And that, there's nothing wrong with that being a motivator for why I'm obedient to him. Now, that can't be the only motivator, because as you pointed out, I also obey him because I trust him, and I trust that he has my well being in mind, and so I obey him because I know his well being.

words Are intended for my good and so I obey him I also obey him because I love him and just like with my physical father You know, i'm i'm a grown man He's not going to punish me for not obeying him But if my dad calls me and he asks something of me i'm going to do it because I love him And there's that relationship between he and I That has been developed over years and years and years.

I want to obey him. I want to help him. I want to be there for him. And so if he asks something of me, I'm going to jump into action as a result of that, if I can. And so yes, fear of consequences. That's a motivator for obedience. Trusting in God, that's a motivator for obedience. The love of God, that's a motivator for obedience.

All of those things are true. And all of those things are relevant to us as Christians. And so I think we do ourselves a disservice if we only focus on one of those, or we try to maybe sweep some of them under the rug because we don't like the idea of consequences. That's not a really fun topic to talk about.

But trusting in God and loving God, that one's more fun to talk about. Let's talk about that.  No, we have to, we have to talk about all of these things because they're all important motivators for why we obey God. And I think all of these things can be seen in scripture, as you pointed out. Yeah. And also an understanding of man and man's fallacies, you know, listen, we're following God because God, he sees more than man sees, right?

We're following God because he knows more than man knows. We follow God and listen to God because he has Our best interest in mind. He knows what is best for me more than I even know what's best for me because he's able to see so much more than I'm able to see. Jeremiah will make the point in Jeremiah chapter 10 verse 23 that man's not equipped to direct his own steps.

So if we go about directing our own ways, we're going to stumble, we're going to fall, we're going to make fools of ourselves. But if we can obey God in His direction, following His boundaries, there's no making a fool of yourself. Now you are working in a very wise kind of way. And it again goes down, I feel like we, you know, we're just a few minutes in and we keep coming back to, you know, that motivator for obedience.

It is certainly love of God, we see that from Jesus Himself. But it is trusting in God, and if we're stepping outside of obedience, we're stepping outside of God's directives, we're stepping outside of His boundaries, in that moment, our trust in Him has slipped. And there's just simply no getting around that reality.

Now, you know, it made me think of a passage in 1 John 5 in verse three, where John writes, For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. Sounds very similar to what Jesus had said, that we referenced earlier in John 14. But he concludes that, that verse by saying, And his commandments are not burdensome.

And so to your point, yes, it's, it's demonstrates our love for God to be obedient to him, but we also have to remember that what he asks of us is not burdensome in any way. Now we may make it sound so, or we can make it seem like those things are burdensome, but the reality is, is they are for our good and they are not burdensome at all.

And so we shouldn't look at obedience to God as, and that's something I've got to do because I don't want God to be mad at me. Or you change our focus, shift our perspective a little bit, and recognize that obedience to God is not burdensome because his commandments are for our good and for our benefit.

He wants to see us thrive. He wants to see us reach our full potential in this life. He in no way wants to hold us back. He doesn't want to keep his thumb on us in any way. He wants to see us thrive and grow and reach our utmost potential in this world. And so the commands that he gives and the directive to be obedient to those.

Only aid us in that, in that journey. They only help us to grow because they're not burdensome. They're for our good. And so that's something that I think is important to instill within our children. Certainly. It's something that all of us, I think, have to be reminded of because we can all easily fall into that trap of.

Acting as if obedience is a chore whereas in, in God's eyes, that shouldn't be the case at all. Obedience is a great blessing because His commandments aren't burdensome to us. Yeah, and you know, listen, throughout Scripture, especially in the pages of the New Testament, you know, Jesus goes over and over and over that, listen, professing love of Him. 

It isn't enough. That's not what it's all about. He's looking for the heart. He's looking for our very lives. And so you have passages like he has in Matthew chapter 7, the very end of the Sermon on the Mount. He kind of closes with two stories, and both of those stories kind of point us in this direction.

Where he says, listen, you know, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, is going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Look at all these incredible things, you know, that I've been all about. But he says, here's the contrast. He's looking for the one that does the will of my Father. And then he closes the Sermon on the Mount with a parable between a wise and a foolish man.

The foolish man hears the sayings of Jesus, but does not do them. And the wise man hears the sayings of Jesus and does them. He patterns his life after them. And so we see this playing out. We've referenced John and his writings multiple times. And so, you know, you've done it multiple times, so I'll do it, you know, here.

You know, you have that, you know, the passage where he tells people, Listen.  If you say that you love God, but yet hate your brother, John says you're a liar, and the love of God is not in you, because that's a directive from God is to love your brother, so you can't just say, I love God, but hate your brother.

Those two things don't, don't work. Those two things don't go together, because if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. And so you see this push over and over and over again. And it's not about God is the great dictator. It's about trusting and loving God. If that is settled, then his directives and his boundaries are going to follow.

Yeah, there's a really interesting story over in first Samuel chapter 15 that I think illustrates kind of what we've been talking about in, in narrative form. In first Samuel 15 the story is told of Saul who has been given very clear directive as to how he is to handle the people of Amalek and in first Samuel chapter 15 and verse number three, Saul is told now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all All that they have and do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

So that was the directive that was given to Saul by God. And so Saul goes on this mission and he does most of that. He does almost all of that, but he spares The king and he spares some of their choice animals.  And as a result of almost doing everything that God said, almost being obedient to God, Saul is rejected as king by God and ultimately is going to be replaced because of these actions here in this story.

I think this is a great illustration  of the difference between Almost doing everything that God says, almost being obedient to God, and being obedient to God. In the eyes of Saul, there wasn't much of a difference between the two. In the eyes of God, that difference could not have been bigger and more significant.

And as a result, Saul is punished. And so I think this is a great lesson to us of what it really means. to be fully obedient to God. Well, yeah, I mean, you see the danger in it. I mean, there in that same passage in verse 13, when Saul is talking to Samuel, the prophet of God, he says, blessed are you of the Lord.

I have performed the commandment of the Lord. It's from Saul's perspective. He had done most of what God had said, but yet from God's perspective, verse 11, as he is speaking to Samuel and says, this is the message I want you to deliver to Saul. And so then he goes to deliver this message. Saul sees him and says, Hey, I've done all that God has said.

Well, the message was going to be, verse 11, He has turned his back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And so God's perspective and Saul's perspective here are two very, very different things. And you're right. It is an incredible lesson that should help us to understand most of, some of, A little of is not obedience.

Obedience is doing what God has directed. That's what obedience ultimately is. Well, let's finish up in this passage of scripture then. Let's just kind of see how God specifically feels about this. Samuel, the prophet of God confronts Saul with this and Saul's response is, Hey, I was going to use some of these animals to offer a sacrifice to God.

So surely that's okay. I mean, I should be fine that I wasn't fully obedient because I was going to use. These things to give praise to God and God speaks through Samuel and expresses his feelings on the matter. And we'll let these words bring us to a close today. As Samuel responds to this action by Saul, Samuel says, has the Lord a great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.