Acts 13:1-3 | a Long ObedienceSample

Obedience to God

Obedience to God is not a once-and-done activity. It’s a pattern of life.

Each day we’re bombarded with situations that require us to decide whether or not we’ll obey God. Sometimes it is easy to submit to the Lord’s direction; other times it isn’t. And many times we fail. After failing enough times, it would be understandable to stay down for the count – to give up following Jesus and choose an easier journey.

Think about some of the heroes of the Bible. Their lives were marked by failure, but those failures did not lead them to stay in sin’s self-defeat. Abraham slept with his wife’s servant in order to secure the promises of God. Moses killed a man. David took another man’s wife, and to cover up the affair, positioned her husband to be killed in battle. Peter denied knowing Jesus in order to blend in and save his own skin. Paul corroborated with the persecution of many Christians before encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus. But none of their stories prevented God from using them to further his plans.

The lapses of obedience didn’t sideline them, but brought them back to obedience.

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are being sent out again, knowing that there will be resistance with temptations and pressure to turn from God’s call to obedience to easier ways. From what we read, they didn’t object or complain, even though the work that lay ahead of them would be hard and success wasn’t guaranteed. They simply obeyed.

Obedience doesn’t always result in a win, but God is in the long game. And it deepens devotion and connection with the Lord.

If you feel disconnected from God, look at whether you are following your own path in life rather than his. Maybe today is the day you take the first step toward reconnecting with him by recommitting your life to the path of obedience.