Obedience Brings Rewards
May 18, 2008
By Sharon Boling
When my children were young, the best way to encourage them to do something was to offer a positive reinforcement or a reward. Whether it was cleaning their room, or getting along with each other, or even being quiet and still for a blessed three or four minutes, a reward would almost always be enough incentive to produce the desired behavior. Part of that bargain was obedience. In order to get the reward, they had to do what was required of them.
God’s Word also talks about obedience and rewards. It says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “…if my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” In the New Testament, Jesus himself said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Recently I went to a women’s conference and I really wanted God to speak to me about some things. I had a whole agenda that I wanted God to address and questions that I wanted him to answer. Well, I can tell you that God definitely spoke to me, but he completely ignored my agenda. Time and again throughout the conference God showed me that if I truly wanted him to move in my life, I needed to totally submit to him. I needed to look in my “closet” to see if there was anything I might be holding back or being stubborn about. (and – surprise, surprise – there was!) There were some things, (however small in my mind) that I knew I should do, but I was making excuses about why I wasn’t doing them.
Like a parent, God is asking his children for obedience. He is also promising a reward. Does that mean you will get everything you ask for just like you want it? Not necessarily. Also like a parent, God knows what is best for us. But when we are obedient to his Word, God promises to hear us and make his home in us. I have found that when all is said and done, that is all I really need. After that, the other things will fall into place and God’s faithfulness will prove itself in ways I could never imagine.
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