IS OBEDIENCE EASY?
The obvious answer is ‘No!’ For man to submit to another is never easy because man’s pride and sense of self sufficiency get in the way. However when obedience to God is considered, is it any different? We could argue that man’s inclination to do evil because of the sinful nature or the programing for sin that exists from birth predisposes us away from obedience to God. But this needs to be countered by the argument that man has been created as a dependent being, with an imprint within to obey and submit to God.
At least Moses, while giving final instructions to the Israelites before his death, suggested that obedience was within reach.
It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:12-14)
Interestingly Moses says that finding the word of God is not as far as people make it to be. We have been created with a conscience that inclines us to do that which is right and judges us when we do that which is against God’s nature. The conscience however, can be abused by constant rejection so much so that a chronic serial killer no longer experience remorse when he kills or a chronic liar, nonchalantly keeps on telling a lie. But no killer or liar begins his journey feeling good about what he does. But as he persists in justifying what he does, over time the conscience does become distorted. And that is because man has a free will, that ultimately by repeated choices fashion the personality of the person, including his conscience.
Moses goes on to exhort his listeners to exercise their wills to choose life over death by choosing God over evil.
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. (Deuteronomy 30:15-18)
A clear connection between prosperity and obedience and conversely between devastation and disobedience is explained by Moses. Abundance comes not by choosing to do things that bring abundance or by wishing abundance, rather is a sequel to obeying God. Likewise the pathway to devastation begins with a rejection of and disobedience to God.
