Obedience

Isaiah 1: 19

“If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land.”

Pastor, this is one of the quickest ways to empty out the pews; talk about obedience. The very fastest is to teach on tithing, which I did yesterday. However, we must move into what I call “Grown-up Christianity” and I pray that all of the pastors who read today’s devotion are blessed with mature Christians who can hear the Word of God.

Look, there is good news attached to obedience. That is why Isaiah has sent us this word. We don’t have to cringe when we hear the word “obey” because there is blessing tied to it. Hooray! Now let’s just apply some simple logic to this. If I obey God; if I do what He instructs me to do, is it reasonable to expect that good things are going to happen for me? Well of course! Whenever we walk down the path He directs us to, it will always lead to provision and blessing. I have said this before but I imagine the old Pony Express in the American west. Those riders followed a prescribed path. Why? Their provision was there. They had the freedom to go any way they chose but the waystation with the food and fresh horse was on the suggested trail. That is what this passage means to me. When we consent and obey, when we do as the Father has instructed, then the natural consequence of that action is that we eat the best of the land. Isaiah is just trying to get us blessed. He is simply saying that if we will do what God has said, we will benefit.

Now, doesn’t that make obedience a bit more palatable?