Why Obedience to God Matters

God delights in obedience and surrender. Perhaps as a child you learned these verses, Ephesians 6:1-3 ~ “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” You may have also learned the song O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E, and still have to sing it in order to spell it correctly!
But why is obedience important? What are the hindrances that sometimes keep us from wanting to be obedient? What are the blessings of obeying? What are Biblical examples of people who obeyed and disobeyed, and how were their lives and the lives of others affected because of their choices? Keep reading for the answer to these questions! 
Why it Matters
Obedience is important because it is an act of worship, love toward God, and trust in His perfect plan. When the serpent tempted Eve in the garden, he made her think that God was withholding good things from her, when the opposite was the truth. They enjoyed perfect peace and even experienced walking with God, yet when they chose to disobey, all of humanity was affected, and we lost that perfect communion with God. However, through the work of Jesus on the Cross, we can have a restored relationship with God! 
Obedience does not always come easy because we have a sin nature and an enemy who wants us to disobey. Just as he did in the garden, Satan makes sin look appealing because he is deceitful and the father of lies (John 8:44). Sometimes obedience requires us to give up something, and then we have a battle of wills. Since satan wants to keep us in bondage and disobedience, he tells us that choosing to obey will rob us of happiness and make us miserable. But the opposite is actually true! Which leads us to answer the other questions: What are the blessings of obedience and examples of obedience and disobedience? 

Obedience to God brings His joy, blessing, and freedom into our lives 

Isaiah 1:19,20 “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” 
Disobedience brings bondage, loss, and regret. For examples of both, let’s look at the following people in the Bible. 
Cain and Able: They both made an offering to God. Able’s offering was pleasing to God, looking forward to the Cross, while Cain did things his own way and rejected God’s plea to do right. Cain’s disobedience to God led him to become the first murderer and experience a life of misery. Even though Able lost his life, he has been enjoying the presence of God for thousands of years!

 Abraham and Lot: Abraham chose to follow God, and he was one of the richest men on earth and was chosen to be the father of the Jewish nation, while Lot chose things of the world and lost everything. (This example does not mean that just because we obey we will be rich materially, but rather that God will bless us with the riches of a close relationship with Him, which is far better that all the treasures of the world!)

 King Saul: In 1 Samuel 15, God gave King Saul the assignment of destroying the Amalekites and all of their possessions. King Saul did not obey the Lord, and his disobedience cost him the kingdom, and led him down a pathway of misery, envy, and hate. 

Esther: When Esther became the queen in Babylon, she still obeyed Mordecai, although she was no longer living under his roof and was a married woman. We read in Esther 2:20 “Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.” Had she not been obedient to the wisdom and instructions of Mordecai, she would have jeopardized the entire nation of Israel. When trouble did come to Israel, she was able to save herself and God’s people from destruction.

Jesus is the greatest example of obedience! Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) This prayer is not a struggle of a rebellious nature, not wanting to do right, but rather a full submissiveness and obedience to the will of God. Jesus was not forced by God the Father to go to the cross. However, as fully human with emotions and the physical ability to feel pain and being Holy God knowing the future, the cross was not easy. But Jesus, in His great love for us, chose the cross even though it meant extreme pain and the burden of every human being’s sin being laid upon Him. To die on the cross for us was the whole reason that Jesus came to earth!

In light of the great sacrifice of Jesus for us, we should want to obey Him with a heart of love and thankfulness. Jesus even tells us in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Those who live a life of disobedience and have no desire to please God do not love Him and know Him as Savior. But God’s children want to obey because they love Him and know Him! Remembering the love of God, let’s be obedient whether it is easy or difficult.