Daily Encouragement: Year 1, Day 38
Adapted from Handbook to Leadership
Personal Development: Obedience to God
God’s requirements in this passage relate to trust and the obedience that flows out of trust. Since our natural disposition is to trust in the visible rather than in what we can’t see, we will engage in a spiritual conflict as long as we walk this earth.
In one sense, God’s requirements of us are quite simple: fear Him, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him, obey His commands. All these things are facets of one thing: a growing personal relationship with the God who has already demonstrated His unflinching commitment to our best interests. Note well the stated purpose behind the commands in this passage: They are for your own good.
The more we realize in our thinking and experience that God always seeks our good, the more we will be willing to trust and obey Him in what He asks us to do and to avoid. Do you really believe that everything the Lord commands you to do is for your own good, as the passage indicates? If so, what mental process is going on when you decide to pursue a course of disobedience? What is the connection between knowing God and obeying Him?