Developing an Obeying Heart

I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

–John 6:38

What kind of heart does God want us to have? At the top of the list is an obeying heart.

Obedience is not a hard word to define. To obey God simply means to do what God has asked us to do. Sometimes we get the idea that belief in Christ is essential but obedience to Christ is optional. In other words, we tend to think that while it’s necessary to trust Christ to take care of us in the next life, we really don’t have to trust Him enough to obey Him in this life. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible never separates belief from obedience.

The Bible says over and over again that we are to obey God in all His commandments. In Deuteronomy 30:2, Moses said, “Return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons.” And in Deuteronomy 32:46, he said, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.”

It’s no accident that in the Greek language, the words for “trust” and “obey” are very similar. When we obey God, we give evidence that we truly believe God. Jesus used the words “believe” and “obey” interchangeably. For example, in John 3:36, He said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Jesus’s entire life on earth was focused on obeying God. He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (4:34). He also said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (6:38).

Is the same thing true of you? When you wake up in the morning, is your first thought I want to do what God wants me to do today? Is that the driving passion of your life? And when you drift off to sleep at night, is your last thought I hope God was pleased with how I conducted my day today? The driving passion in our lives ought to be obedience to the will of God.

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.