Learning Obedience

Why do you call Me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?

–Luke 6:46

Obedience is not something that happens automatically. It is a learned response. To me, one of the most fascinating verses in the New Testament is Hebrews 5:8, which says Jesus “learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” We can learn how to obey God and develop an obeying heart, which God wants from each one of us.

How do we go about learning obedience? We must decide that obedience is a priority. Do you know the reason most of us don’t obey God consistently? It’s because we have no intention of obeying God consistently. We don’t plan to obey God. That’s why we don’t do it.

Now, we might occasionally make a one-time decision to obey God. But outside of salvation, there are no one-time decisions that will take care of all our problems. I’m not saying you can’t make a one-time decision to obey God in some way, but I am saying that at some point, you have to get it permanently settled in your mind whether you can trust God to tell you the right things to do and whether you can trust His character in order to obey Him. You have to decide: Does God really know and want what is best for me?

My family has a history of colon cancer, so some years ago I went to a gastroenterologist to ask for some advice. The doctor told me what I should do to avoid the same fate. He said, “Every morning, eat a bowl of bran flakes sprinkled with unprocessed wheat bran. And every night before you go to bed, drink a glass of Metamucil. If you will do those two things, everything will be just fine. By the way, that will be $120, please.” Why was I willing to pay this guy $120? And why do I gag down a bowl of bran flakes every morning when I’d rather be eating a sausage biscuit from McDonald’s? And why do I drink a glass of Metamucil instead of a chocolate milkshake every night? It’s not because I want to; it’s because I believe that doctor knows more than I do, and I also believe He really wants what is best for me.

You will never obey God consistently until you settle it in your mind once for all that God knows and wants what is best for you.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Developing an Obeying Heart” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.