Benefits of Obedience and Follies of Disobedience

Benefits of Obedience and Follies of Disobedience

 Let us examine how much God loves Obedience and abhors  Disobedience.

The Bible in Isiah 1:19 says, " if ye be willing and obedient,  you shall eat the goods of the land...

Let's examine  few of those who enjoyed God's favour for being obedient and the consequences of disobedience even from those who  obeyed God  abinitio ..

Of course, the first experience with Obedience and Disobedience in the scripture was the story of the first man..We all know that God desired a relationship with man. A good relationship at that and he never created man to suffer nor encounter any suffering..He put man in the Garden of Eden to regall,but when the first man through temptation from the serpent and his wife disobeyed, we all know the consequences; that was the event that led to the fall of man...And, God through that cursed man and  all the dramatis personae involved...What a consequences.? . From the apple of God's eyes to the apple of sin..May God spare us from the consequences  of his wrath.

Gen Chapter 1-3 will be handy for details on the story...

Going further, let us look at the rise and fall of King Saul..From nobody to somebody and  later his final fall..When God ordained Saul and placed the throne of Israel in his care, he was nobody. He had no  palace and so he returned to his farm to act..Afterwards, God made good his promises to  him; he was recognised as King. He began to eat the fruits of the lands ,because God never failed in his promise  to his people.

He made Saul to fight many battles on the part of the Israelites , which he won..God actually  won the battles for him just  to establish his convenant with him..What happened? Saul became full of  himself. He became very arrogant and began to disobey  God.. God repeatedly sent Samuel to him to warm him, but he refused to heed.Then, came the battle with the Amalekites. God specifically instructed King Saul to destroy the Amalekites because they  were regarded as people who does not like God; they were always up against the Israelites  who were God 's  chosen tribes. After, Saul disobeyed God, God  made him to suffer defeat in the war he had always triumphed.His two children died in war front.He slew himself when he saw that the defeat was imminent.God deliver  him into the hands of the so called uncircumcised people and the Kingdom he ruled over fell to  the hands  of  the enemy..What a consequences? 

1 Samuel is also replete with the story.

Another great consequences of disobedience even in the Bible was the story of  Eli and his two sons who through their father's weakness desecrated the altar of God and did whatever they liked with the offerings of the Israelites.  God repeatedly warned Eli and his household against this dastardly act , but the consequences thereof was grave.God said he would rend the altar from his family and ensured that none of his family members became a priest and those who were left to become a priest were left to become a disgrace to the family as they  were made to beg for bread on the altar.. Again, what a consequence of disobedience.?

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:12). The term Belial means “worthless” or “wicked” .

Read more on the story on 1 Samuel.

Another story of disobedience from the scripture was that of  Solomon...Solomon was a man after God's heart. When he was ordained King, God gave him the privilege to ask for anything he likes and because he was not selfish, he asked for wisdom and understanding to govern his people .And, God was amazed and said because you were not selfish, I will multiply you in wisdom.

" And God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honour or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king; (12) wisdom and rishes even in double portion, would I give to you..."

But, as time went by, Solomon's wisdom and rishes got the better part of him.He became promiscuous. He had over 700 concubines in addition to 300 wives according to Biblical account..God warned  him to stay away from strange women who  will  turn his heart away from God , but he never heeded the warning from God and the consequence as usual was grave...God said, " And, I will rend the Kingdom away from your tribe.....

Solomon worshiped the gods of his wives alongside the God of Israel thus broke the covenant with God. He imposed heavy taxation on his subjects and his districts in order to raise part of the government revenue. Solomon overspent and misused the wealth of the Kingdom by building a huge palace.

According to 1 Kings 11:30–34 and 1 Kings 11:9–13, it was because of these sins that the Lord punished Solomon by removing most of the tribes of Israel from rule by Solomon's house.

God's  Judgement  against Solomon .

Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant...

.Kings 11:11-13 Amplified Bible (AMP).

But, God being a merciful God who never renege on his promises to his people ,no matter how long it takes, remembered his convenant with David his father and said for the sake of David and  Jerusalem his  chosen city he  will leave one of the Kingdom to his children.

12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son.

13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own." 1 Kings 11:12-32

Of course, we are all familiar  with the story of Jonah, whom God sent to Nineveh and disobeyed and instead went to another town.The consequences we can all still relate with 

We can go on and on about disobedience and it's consequences...Those who can learn from history need nor dare the wrath of God because it can be grave. 

" For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exod. 34:14).

May the Lord open our eyes and heart of understanding and cause us to continue to live in obedience of His commandments so that we shall continually eat the fruits of the land.

Gpd bless you all.

This message is coming to you from the stable of " Writing/ Researching For Christ Mission.

Tentative Address: 90,ilugun-itoko Community, Ajangboun Road Abeokuta, Ogun  State.

Tentative e-mail and phone contact.

08035004741, waheedogunjobi@gmail.com 

Waheed Ogunjobi, 

Head of Mission