Blessing in Obedience
A phrase that used to make me cringe
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” - Luke 11:18 (NLT)
Spiritual disciplines are more than electives of the Christian faith. They are calls to a lifestyle that leads to walking in the fullness of God's plan for us. Over the years, I have learned many lessons about what it means to put God's word into practice.
I am not the perfect example of obeying God in all things. It has been a learning process of years to get me to where I am today. And even that is less than what I could be.
Now, I would be remiss not to discuss blessing in obedience regarding spiritual disciplines. Though I originally planned to include this near the end of the book, I decided it would be best to share before we delved into the disciplines of life.
I have often heard parents quote this scripture to their children. Whether or not there was context when it was first mentioned to those kids, I do not know. Yet, I have noticed that this does make me cringe from time to time.
As I have been thinking about spiritual disciplines, I have realized that we don’t talk about the fullness of a verse like this. So, at the beginning of this book, I want to cast some vision with the idea of ‘blessings in obedience.’
Hear the Word of God
We are called to meditate on the Word daily (Psalm 1:2-3). In this practice, we can know God and experience Jesus through the different accounts presented to us in the Bible.
We aren’t doing decisive work in the Bible; it is like reading a letter from a dear friend or family member. When we read it, there is context to which it applies to their perspective (God’s) and our perspective.
This is why reading the Bible is essential. It helps us to learn more about God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Our faith will grow as we learn more about them and come to know them more through the Word of God.
Now, the Bible also has commands or calls on our life. There are a lot of things that it shares with us about how to live. And it is in these things that we hear or read God's word and learn what is important to God and how we live.
This is an essential part of our Christian walk. From time to time, God will give us a conviction that calls us to take something we read and live it out.
Obey the Word
Most translations use the phrase ‘obey the word.’ The NLT I quoted earlier says to ‘put it into practice.’ While some might say this waters down the call to obey God, they work well together for many of us.
When we read the Word of God and the Holy Spirit places a conviction in our hearts about something we have read, we are called to obey that conviction. A conviction, after all, is a firmly held belief. And if God has placed this on your heart, then we must obey and put it into practice.
This conviction is our call to obedience. When we obey God in something he has placed on our hearts, we take things to a new level. In this way, we will also grow in our faith.
Obedience is more than blindly obeying something, though. Our obedience is a measure of our faith. Will we obey God even when it might be counter-cultural or against a previous belief in our lives?
It is this decision that we understand the next part of this scripture.
Blessing
We have read in the Word of God when we decide to live differently and live out the call to do something in our lives. There will be more than simply doing. There will be this exchange of doing where we will receive a blessing.
This becomes a slippery slope because people will obey things because they want a specific blessing. Maybe you believe that if you obey God, he will give you a raise at work, a child, or some other blessing you long for.
This is a different kind of exchange. This is trying to negotiate your blessing with God.
However, if you read the Word of God, you are convicted to live differently and then do it. God will bless you in the way that you need blessing. It may not be the way you think. It may not be the blessing you so desire.
But you will be blessed. And in this blessing, you will receive what God has for you.
One Last Word
I share all of this to help you understand this book. It isn’t meant to give you more things to do in your Christian walk. It is about giving you disciplines that can help you draw closer to God.
You don’t need all of them. You could learn them all, but they all take time to master. Yet, they are beautiful ways to grow in your walk with God and change how you see the world.
Most of all, I want to give you the basics to get started chasing after God in a way that will bless your life and those around you.
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. He has self-published 5 bible study devotionals on Amazon, check them out below: