“Obey all the way, right away with a happy heart.” What does all that have to do with living in the fear of the Lord?
The fear of the Lord is about how we live our lives every minute of every day. It’s obeying His commands and precepts in all areas of our lives, how we treat others, our attitude toward authority, our motives for all that we do and much more. It’s a prevailing heart attitude that we should all cultivate.
“Obey all the way, right away with a happy heart” encompasses all of that and is good advice for all of us, but what does it mean?
Obey All the Way, Right Away, with a Happy Heart
Proverbs 19.2ea says, “The fear of the Lord leads to life.”
The fear of the Lord is not the cowering fear of an abusive God who is just waiting to clobber us because we fall short. It’s worshipful respect.
But it’s, also, knowing that God is God and that He loves us enough to discipline us if we’re determined to go our own way instead of His. He does so because He knows that His way is the way that leads to life no matter how it looks to us.
Living in the fear of the Lord doesn’t just involve our one on one relationship with Him. It is how we live our lives every minute of every day. It’s obeying His commands and precepts in all areas of our lives, how we treat others, our attitude toward authority, our motives for all that we do and much more.
Sometimes when I counsel younger children I teach them a phrase I learned many years ago from Ginger Hubbard. In her book, Don’t Make Me Count to 3 she suggests teaching our children to, “Obey all the way, right away, with a happy heart!”
What exactly does that mean and why is it important for us?
Obey All the Way
In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul had been commanded to destroy all the Amalekites along with all their livestock for their sin against Israel. Instead, he spared King Agag and kept the best of the animals.
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Instead of obeying God “all the way” Saul justified doing things his own way. When he was confronted, he shifted blame to the people.
Better Than Sacrifice
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Now he not only blames the people but justifies it by claiming he did it for God.
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
Saul’s failure to obey “all the way” cost him the kingdom. But, what about you and me? Are we sold out to obey God completely?
Right Away
Earlier in the year, we read about Abraham and his twenty-five year wait for the promised son. But then:
¹ Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Can you even imagine? I can’t! But look at Abraham’s response:
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
He didn’t try to talk himself or God out of it. He “rose early in the morning.” He didn’t just obey, he obeyed “right away” and trusted God with the results.
As most of you remember, God didn’t want him to sacrifice his son but he did want to know He had Abraham’s heart.
With a Happy Heart
God is always looking at the heart (1 Sam. 16.7). He’s not impressed with our religious activity (Is. 29.13), our attempts to look good to others (Acts 5.1-10), or begrudging obedience (2 Cor. 9.7).
When you and I are convicted by the Word, when obedience is inconvenient or difficult, what is our heart attitude? Are we able to obey joyfully? Are we quick to obey? Do we obey completely or try to get by with doing as little as possible? Are we living in genuine fear of the Lord? Do we “obey all the way, right away, with a happy heart”?
Blessings,
Donna
I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.
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