Every believer has all it takes to listen to God. It is God’s desire that all His Children would listen to Him and fully comply with His instructions. Obedience to God is very important in our Christian growth. To listen and obey the word of God means to ponder, meditate and carry out what the word of God says. To listen means to weigh in the mind, to think or reflect, especially quietly and deeply. To ponder on something is like meditation which implies a definite focusing of one’s thoughts on something in order to understand it deeply. The author of Proverbs 14:15 make a good point: “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” To obey means to comply, to submit, to carry out, to implement etc.
God is very concerned about us and He wants us to do more than participate in good works, He wants us to obey Him. When we are obedient to God, it means that we know Him, it means that we love Him and it implies we are having a personal and intimate relationship with Him. To do this, we must be attentive to God’s words. This is not an option, because you can’t have an intimate relationship with God and trample on His words. Being obedient to God is not just to fulfill all righteousness, it is living according to God’s word so that we may enjoy His blessings and be filled with His love.
We must believe in God, we must have faith in Him, and we must trust Him! Calling ourselves a Christian on its own won’t do. Following the commandments step wise won’t do. Reading the Bible diligently won’t do, we have to take the Word into our hearts. When we make the transition from calling ourselves a good Christian to being someone who is having a deep personal and intimate relationship with the Lord, then we can have the highest of joys, the deepest of peace, and receive the fullest measure of God’s love and power each and every day of our lives. We need to enter into God’s rest through absolute obedience and be less concerned with worrying about what else we could do to make God love us more.
The books of 1 John and 2 John clearly explain that obedience to God demonstrates love for God. Loving God implies following his commands: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. (1 John 5:2–3).Love means doing what God has commanded us, and He has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning. Our motivation for obedience is love: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15).
In Jesus Christ we find the perfect model of obedience. As his disciples, we follow Christ’s example by being obedient to God and His commands. When we listen to God’s still small voice, He leads us, guides us, teaches us, fulfils His promises to us, He blesses us with His blessings that comes in diverse ways and tells us what to do per time. These and many more are the essence of listening and obedience to God.
It is my prayer that God will give us that enabling grace to continue to hear Him in the midst of the distractions in our generation and the willingness and courage to obey Him throughout our sojourn on earth in Jesus Name.
Your brother, friend, Pastor & Archdeacon
‘Seyi Pirisola.