Rewards of Obedience

submitted by Sandi Michon

As parents, we intimately relate to the topic of obedience. Obedience is intrinsically linked to the success of our mission.

Consider a few questions with me to make this devotional more personal and practical:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the highest), how important is your child’s obedience in relation to your parenting goals?

2. How does a lack of obedience impact your relationship with your kids? Take a minute to list your points.

3. How does obedience affect your relationship?  List these as well.

Obedience has a make-it-or-break-it impact in our homes, but as we shall see, it has an even deeper impact on our own relationship with God and His plan for us.

I am burdened about obedience in my own life and it is a constant theme in the Bible. The word obedience, obey, obeyed is found in the Bible 111 times and that doesn’t even touch all the references to following God’s commands, precepts and statutes! All through Scripture, God dealings with His people are often dictated by their obedience or disobedience. His hand falls hard on the disobedient.

You could study obedience in Scripture for years and not exhaust the references and lessons. I’d like to share some quick principles that impressed me and then focus on my main point:

• Psalm 66:3 says that God’s enemies PRETEND obedience.  We always told our kids that true obedience is doing WHAT you’re told, WHEN you’re told, with the right ATTITUDE. How many times do we obey on the outside but our hearts are still bent on disobedience? Obedience must be genuine.
• Romans 6:16 says we are slaves to what we obey. Rom 6:16  Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to him whom you obey; whether it is of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness. I am always a slave to something – choose wisely.
• Romans 6: 19 says our obedience reaches to all… it influences others
• I Samuel 15:22 tells us God values obedience over sacrifice.
• I Peter 1:22 says our hearts are purified by obedience of the truth through the Holy Spirit to the unfeigned love of the brethren.
• Most importantly, we show our love for God by obeying Him – much like our children do. “If you love me, keep my commandments. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. (John 14) JESUS SETS THE PACE in verse 31: But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.”  John 15: 10: If you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
• I John 2:3: “hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  I John 5:3: “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” God’s commands are for OUR benefit.
• Okay, one last one. This one you might want to post on your refrigerator: Proverbs 30:17  The eye that mocks at his father and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.  YIKES! Obedience is very serious to God.

Interesting points to ponder on obedience, but my main point is that there are rewards to obedience. Hebrews 11:6 says God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. His Word is filled with chastisement or rewards based on disobedience or obedience.

Jeremiah prophecied to a people bent on disobedience.

Jeremiah 7:23  But I commanded them this thing, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.

God gave another contrast in Deuteronomy 11: 26-28:

Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: A blessing if you obey the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you today,  and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, but will turn aside out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

Leviticus 26 has the scariest contrast between obedience and disobedience. I recommend you read it with your kids to dispel any notion of a God that loves to the exclusion of his holiness and justice. I tremble when I read it.

To illustrate the rewards of obedience, I want to share my heart with you. To do so, I must ask you to come back to 1990 with me. My son was in first grade and I volunteered in his class. (He was an active, normal, curious boy who did not fit in an institutional setting.) At end of that year, he thought he was a stupid, bad boy.

Through a series of events as his God-given advocates, God led us to homeschool. I was originally not for the idea, but it came down to an issue of obedience. We homeschooled for 16 years, and would still be doing it if we hadn’t run out of kids. (I now “rent” them.)

As I look back on our homeschooling, I realize that God has given rewards for that obedience – many of them I would not have even considered when  we started. Even now, God continues to show me additional rewards from our years of homeschooling.

The same principle of obedience is true with Western Mass. Homeschoolers. When our family started homeschooling, a woman from our church took three of us “newbies” under her wing and showed us curriculum and encouraged us. The four families met regularly for fellowship and field trips.

I was so empowered by her encouragement, God put it on my heart to return the favor for others… and so WMH was born. Over the past 15 years, it has been a journey of obedience – and of rewards.

As I look back, I cannot imagine my life without all the rewards leading this group has brought. God rewards obedience!

The rewards include:

• it taught me to clean my house once a month for the meetings – and that it didn’t really matter if it was clean...
• It taught my kids hospitality and serving
• It made me study the word to prepare devotionals. (My daughter asked early in our meetings what I would do if no one showed up. I told her I would line up stuffed animals on the couch and share the Word with them… The main point is that I was blessed in the preparation.)
• I learned so much through years of workshops by gifted people.
• I have met the most amazing people – many who have become dear friends that I cannot imagine not knowing. They have encouraged me, taught me, loved me… the list goes on and on.
• I have learned about leadership. As the group grew, we formed a leadership team, and they endured my learning through mistakes.
• I have met some of the most amazing young people that I hope stay in my life into the future.
• Because of the homeschool group, I have had several venues to speak about godly values and the values of homeschooling.

I could keep going, but I think what I really want to say is that I have received far more than I could have possibly given. I have learned that you can’t outgive God.

Lastly, it is an issue of obedience that I step down from the leadership of Western Mass. Homeschoolers. I don’t know why – and I’ve argued with God about it – but He has made His will clear.  I don’t know what He wants me to do next, but that’s the things about obedience. I will never know the next step until I obey the present one.

Sadly, I wonder how many rewards I have forfeited through my stubborn disobedience in the past. It is a powerful motivator to obey right now. I am learning to trust His love and His plan, so I am excited.

I plan to stay involved with homeschooling and support the group. I hope to do something as a Mentor Mom and gather similarly passionate and experienced women to love and encourage newer homeschoolers. I want to thank you for everything you have done consistently to make WMH what it is. We are excited about God’s plan for the future of the homeschool group and for our individual lives.

Please take out the list you made at the start of the devotional. As you note the practical pitfalls of disobedience in your own home, apply if to your relationship with God the Father, and all He longs to do with your life. Obedience is the key to unlocking the door to His plan – and His rewards.