“Follow all the directions the LORD your God has given you. Life will go well for you.”
Deuteronomy 5:33 (GW) Have you ever thought about the link between faith and obedience? When you trust someone, you do what they say. If you don’t do what someone tells you to do, it means you don’t trust them. In the Bible, God links faith and obedience over and over again. The promises of God are conditioned on your following the directions he gives you. Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Follow all the directions the Lord your God has given you. Life will go well for you” (GW). God has made some incredible, specific promises in his Word about obedience. In fact, there are so many promises that I can’t list them all here. But here are a few: “God blesses those who obey him” (Proverbs 16:20 TLB). “He saves those who obey him” (Psalm 7:10 GNT). “The Lord watches over those who obey him” (Psalm 33:18 GNT). “The Lord takes care of those who obey him” (Psalm 37:18 GNT). “God gives us what we ask for because we obey God’s commands” (1 John 3:22 NCV). “Always obey the Lord and you will be happy” (Proverbs 28:14 GNT). “Keep God’s laws and you will live longer” (Proverbs 19:16 GNT). “Those who obey him have all they need . . . Those who obey the Lord lack nothing good” (Psalm 34:9-10 GNT). That’s an incredible list of promises. If you follow God’s directions, you’ll be blessed, saved, watched over, taken care of, given what you ask for, and happy; you’ll live longer and lack nothing good. Obedience is the premise behind all of the promises. God gives you his promises by grace. But you get to enjoy his promises when you follow his instructions. Sometimes you understand God’s instructions. But sometimes you don’t. And you need to obey whether or not you understand. Some of God’s commands might sound confusing. Some may seem unfair. For example, the Bible says to take the first 10 percent of your income and give it back to him. It says that when people do evil to you, you are to do good back to them. These things don’t always make sense from a human standpoint. But the things that don’t make sense to us are the things God asks us to do by faith. He wants us to trust him and obey anyway. Do you want you to enjoy all of God’s promises? Obedience is the key that unlocks them. Choose to follow his directions today in faith. He promises to reward you for your obedience.
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“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.” 1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)
You make so many decisions every day. Most are ones you don’t even need to think about—like deciding to brush your teeth in the morning or to fill up your almost-empty gas tank. Others are matters of right or wrong, where you can rely on the wisdom of the Bible and your conscience. Sometimes, though, you have to decide between a good option and a best option. In situations like that, use the Improvement Test. The Improvement Test asks: Will this make me a better person? The Bible talks about this: “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV). Notice in those verses the freedom you have. But as a Christian, even though you can do something, it may not be beneficial for you; not everything builds you up. Some things are not necessarily wrong—they’re just not necessary. They’re not the best. Most choices you make in life are not between good and evil. You don’t get up in the morning and ask, “Shall I read my Bible, or shall I commit a crime?” You need to have a higher standard than right and wrong. You need to use the Improvement Test and ask what will make you a better person. Do you know more about TV characters than about the people in the Bible—or the people in your own family? Maybe you spend hours reading books or magazines that fill your mind with things that don’t matter. Or you fill your weekends sitting on the couch watching sports. In today’s world, many people throw away countless hours staring at their phones. Are these things always bad? No. Are they mostly a waste of time? Absolutely! Will they make you a better person? Absolutely not! So, the reality is, many people are spending their lives on second-class causes. But you don’t have to. So as you make choices every day, don’t ask: Is there anything wrong with this? Instead, ask: Is this making me a better person? Don’t coast along, filling up your life with things that aren’t the best. Instead, take the things you spend your life on and hold them up against God’s Word to see if they’re the best. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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