“Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.” Deuteronomy 5:33
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 you following the directions he gives you.
Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.” (NLT)
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).
“Who saves the upright in heart.” (Psalm 7:10 NASB).
“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,” (Psalm 33:18 NASB).
“The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will be forever.” (Psalm 37:18 NASB).
“and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22 NASB).
“How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” (Proverbs 28:14 NASB).
“He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless of conduct will die.” (Proverbs 19:16 NASB).
“O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.” (Psalm 34:9-10 NASB).
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.
I 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.
Talk It Over
- How are faith, obedience, and God’s promises all dependent on each other?
- Which of God’s commands have you not been obeying because you don’t understand why to obey? Will you commit to obeying in faith, even if you don’t understand?
- Read over the list of God’s promises again. Which one stands out the most to you? Spend a few minutes in prayer, thanking God for that promise and asking him to help you obey his directions.
