Be Willing To Obey

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; – Isa. 1:19 NIV

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The Prophet Isaiah was a confirmed Prophet of the Almighty God whose prophetic Ministry covered both Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah with capital cities in Samaria and Jerusalem respectively, and bible scholars prefer to group him as one of the Major Prophets in the Bible times. With the meaning of his name being “God is salvation”, Isaiah spent most of his prophetic life, reminding the Israelites of both kingdoms of the ability of the Almighty God to save them from pain and affliction that is a result of their transgressions.

The biblical book which is named after him opens with the Prophet revealing to the Israelites,  the impression of the Almighty God about them. Using words such as rebellious, sinful, corrupt and evil doers to describe them, the Almighty God through the Prophet Isaiah in the first few verses of the first Chapter promised them pain, punishment, affliction and destruction as their reward for all their negative acts towards His Instructions. He, through the Prophet Isaiah chastised them not to continue to bring what He considers meaningless sacrifices to Him or continue to waste their time observing worship days and sessions that are equally meaningless in His name, letting them know, in the scripture that is the foundation of today’s Devotional, that changing from their evil ways was the only request he was making of them, if they desired to be rewarded with peace in the land that he had promised them. The land they expect to flow with milk and honey – Isa. 1:10-16. Until that moment all they were experiencing was sadness and  bitterness because he had turned deaf hears to all their supplications – Isa. 1:5-9. He had chosen to hide His face from all their spread out arms and close His ears to their prayers.

He was however willing to change his reactions towards them if they too were prepared to change, recommending to them in the process, the specific steps they will have to take to enjoy a new lease of life – Isa. 1:16-17. According to the Almighty God in today’s scripture, they will successfully navigate away from their current difficult life if they are willing and obedient. Simply put, it was left with them to show willingness to obey.

Willingness means to be ready, prepared and eager to carry out an action which in this case is to comply or submit to all His Instructions. It should be noted that the Almighty God is not asking for the actual compliance to His Instructions before saving such from the negative situation but the simply a demonstration of the willingness of the one concerned to implement them. It is one thing to be willing and it is another to actually implement it but obedience to any instruction will be premised firstly on knowing and understanding those Instructions and agreeing with all of them as proper and right. It is simply impossible to obey what is not known, understood or in agreement with. To agree with an instruction is to see it as the perfect act for that situation with no consideration for any other alternative.

The Christian today need to always remember that the Almighty God is a living God and is emotional. He is also sovereign in His actions and so can be offended if his Instructions are not obeyed. He detests anyone who disobeys His Instructions, more so when the act of disobedience is deliberate as that indicates lack of respect for His sovereignty.

Some Christians would not even bother to know what His Instructions are, more so be willing to obey them. The implication of such acts, either deliberately or ignorantly done is affliction, not from those people who have been classified as  enemies, but from the Almighty God Himself using all those perceived enemies to punish the transgressor. It will be a fruitless action if the victim of God’s anger and wrath chooses to attack the tool of the Almighty God that is used to signify is discontent rather than take a decision to willingly obey divine Instructions as the proper solution.

The beginning of the journey to restoration for the Christian is the acquisition of true knowledge and proper understanding of the Instructions of the sovereign Lord with regards to all situations. This must then be followed by willingness to always obey those Instructions. Once this is achieved, the Almighty God immediately sets into motion the machinery to support such a person in implementing those Instructions because He is very much aware of the several efforts of Satan to  discourage the willing Christian, but this support will not come if the Christian has not taken the time to understand and be eager to implement those Instructions. Choose to know the Will of God and have a honest desire to obey and implement all such Instructions and there is no doubt that the difficult situation you are in now will experience a positive turn around. May God grant us all the willingness to implement His Instructions for our lives in Jesus name. Amen.