Your Daily Devotional for July 3, 2007

 

July 3,  2007

 

 

Obeying God

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people."

 

 

Joshua 3:12-14

 

 

Yesterday we saw that there are times in our lives when we must stretch our faith and obey God's leading. He may not always show us the future, but we must have faith to trust Him and follow Him each step of the way. We also briefly mentioned yesterday that we must obey God in order to stretch our faith. Today we are going to see that obedience is how we display our faith.

 

It would have done no good for the Israelites to say they trusted God and yet not obey Him. When He commanded them to pass over the deep and turbulent Jordan River, they not only had to choose to trust God, they also had to act on that choice.

 

We see the choice they made in verse 14, "And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people." The people could have chosen to believe that God would safely guide them over, but if they did not obey Him and take that first step into the water, their faith would have been to no effect. Their faith was displayed by their obedience.

 

We may say we have faith in God, but if we are not obeying Him, our faith is in vain. God explains this in James 2:17-20, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" We must not only trust God, but we must step out in faith and obey Him as well.

 

Do you trust God? Do you trust that He knows what's best for you and desires to provide more for you than what you could do for yourself? Then step out in faith and obey Him! Many times we do not obey God because we do not truly trust Him. He has everything under control, and He will not lead you astray! When we obey Him, we will be in the center of His will, and that's the safest place to be. Nothing can harm us when we are in His will! When we obey God, we show that we trust Him with our lives.

 

Have you avoided obeying God because you were afraid to trust Him? It takes faith to obey God and take that step of faith, yet we can never see His blessings in our lives if we are not willing to obey Him. There may be some apprehension and fear, yet don't let that stop you from obeying Him. Ask God to give you strength to have faith to obey Him. Let others see your faith by obeying Him today.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Job 25-27 • Acts 12

 

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