Obedience can be said to be submission to God’s authority, while blessings can be said to be an expression of God’s love and goodness towards us. Our obedience to God shows our love for Him and His blessings upon us shows His love for us (John 14:15 & 21). While going through this particular chapter of the Bible, I found out that the greatest blessing a child of God has is the presence of the Holy Spirit in his/her life. Now the Holy Spirit enables us as Christians to overcome, and obey God willingly without a struggle as we yield our lives to Him daily.
Every child of God is expected to develop a personal relationship with God as we study and meditate His word day and night without giving excuses (Joshua 1:8). In our meditation (pondering on God’s word), the Holy Spirit through His word makes us understand God’s will for us. The word of God is not for the carnal mind because this is beyond human reasoning as we need the Holy Spirit to interpret and bring it to our level of understanding. If you remember the first time you gave your life to Jesus, the first thing that happened was that an unseen sort of load was lifted and you felt so light irrespective of how others see you. An unexplainable joy flows into you and right there and then you feel like telling everyone what Jesus has done. Wow! What a blessing! You at that time will begin a spiritual journey that will take you through challenges, temptations, trials, persecution, etc, but in all His promise of never leaving us still stands. As am writing this, I myself am going through a challenge that I went to the gents and cried. I said, “Oh Lord help me never to say anything negative whether by thought or by words.” I remembered 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
You know as a pastor you see people’s prayers being answered and yours on hold, that is still a blessing. Because when you keep walking with the Lord and never allow your emotions blind your sense of spiritual judgment (faith), then will you see the power of obedience and the blessings that will come. I want you to bear in mind that obedience comes with a price which is self-denial (putting self to death on daily basis). This I also call a blessing. Beloved, I must tell you that being born again is the starting of the spiritual journey of our faith and we are being tested daily the decisions we take. After studying and meditating on God’s word and saying your prayers, God expects us to make the right decisions by you obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit – this is what brings the blessings.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they enjoyed the presence of God and every other good thing there until the day they did what they were told not to do (Genesis 3: 16 – 24). Our joy and happiness as Christians lie in our obedience to God, not on materials things. Please, I am not saying that you should become a stereotyped Christian whose life is just doing God’s work and forgetting that taking care of your family (emotional and financial)is also part of God’s work. Beloved, I want to urge to refrain from saying this, “Nobody is watching me, after-all I have my life to live, and I will live it the way I want”. Or it’s nobody’s business. Now because you are a child of God, people are already watching to see how you conduct yourself, your reactions to little matters and your attitude toward big matters. When you consistently walk with the Holy Spirit, He uses you to teach others who are watching closely and those who are young in the faith (1 Timothy 4: 11 – 13). This is also a blessing. As the father of the house, when you follow God in obeying Him, your wife and children also learn quickly. You know why because each time you obey God, He blesses you in a way that the members of your family will see it and believe. Your obedience makes it easier for them to trust in God wherever they go (Genesis 26: 1 – 6). This is also a blessing. But when they see you are the type who is stubborn to God, they also become stubborn. I want you to bear in mind that the power of obedience breaks the yoke of curses and bondage in “some” ways without you going for deliverance in some cases (Matthew 1: 5 – 6). This is also a blessing.
Your level of yielding or let me say obedience determines how far you will go with the Lord in your walk with Him, and how blessed you will be. A Christian’s worth/value is how obedient such a person is to the Lord. Until your obedience surpasses your emotions, I believe you will start experiencing victories in some areas of your life; such like when you are persecuted in the church by leaders in your church, you are able to forgive and move on without allowing become the reason why you leave the church (Acts 7: 54 – 59). This is also a blessing. There are so many examples sighted in the Bible of which in my second part of the same topic we shall look at the men who obeyed God and were highly blessed by God.