Today in my time of devotion I read Deuteronomy 11:8-15. God reminded me about the blessings that come when we are being obedient. I would love to pat myself on the back and say I am good at being obedient, but the truth is I have some work to do. The level of obedience for where I am going and what God wants for me, is not up to the standards it should be. I think a lot of us can say the same.
As I began writing this post the word solidarity just seemed to keep ringing in my head. Even though I know what it means I like to look up words I feel God is focusing my attention to. It helps me get more insight and meaning, and I get a better picture of what God may be trying to tell me. The definition I found was, “unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.” The words that jumped out at me were, “unity or agreement of action, common interest, support within a group.” I heard God saying obedience is unity and agreement with my word, the action we take is to follow what it says and when we do that we are sharing God’s interest for our lives which gives us the support of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit in everything we do. When I am obedient, I find myself more and more in a position of solidarity with the word of God.
It is easy to stop and get excited about verses 8-9 in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and run and give a shout because we are ready for the rewards of obedience. However, obedience can be a hard thing to execute. In fact, I find myself in more of a lonely place as I fight to live out the word of God. I realize, less people are in full agreement with living out what God says. The more I read and apply the word, the truer Matthew 22:14 becomes, “for many are called, but few are chosen” (NLT). Many mix religiosities with Bible, others simply piece together the verses they want to apply to their lives and some use what they want to manipulate others. It has become an a la carte gospel. When in fact every part of the Bible has value in all areas of life and every part is to be followed.
When I look at the state of the world and our nation today, I see a lack of obedience. I see the need to open up the word of God and apply the principles that have been layed out for success in life. So many are looking for a plan when there are already plans on how to treat others, how to run governments, how to have a successful business and more. We need to read the word daily to renew our minds and apply it to our lives. Obedience costs something. Sometimes it may cost more than we want to give, but the rewards are far greater. Matthew 19:29 comes to mind. It says, “And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life” (NLT). You may have to give up some things or some people, but God promises we will receive greater. Obedience is better than sacrifice. I want to challenge you to take some time to read the Bible every day. Renew your mind, change your thinking and restructure your actions. If you do, success will surely follow.
bruisedbutnotbroken.blog 