199. DEAR CHRISTIAN, DISOBEDIENCE DOES NOT PAY

(The Information & Edification Series – Batch 4)

This morning, I was reading a random portion of scripture in my devotions and I was reminded of the fact, that disobedience never pays. This is clearly demonstrated in the scriptures with many examples recorded there for our admonition.

In 1 Corinthians 10:6, in recounting what was recorded in the scriptures of the Israelites who met with their demise because of unbelief, idolatry and disobedience, notes, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

As human beings and even as Christians, we have a tendency to want our own way due to this flesh that is within us. We are inherently rebellious by nature and that means that for the Christian, each day he must make a decision with every situation that he encounters, whether to obey God or not. He must decide whether to do as he knows God wants him to do or whether to do as his own will prefers.

If you’re reading this Article and you are a Christian, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Of this struggle within us, to do the will of God versus the will of our flesh, Paul stated in Romans 7:14-25:

• “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 

• Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 

• O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

It is so easy for us as human beings and even Christians, to know the will of God and yet to still choose the path of disobedience. This ought not to be and it is never without consequence but somehow, our flesh deludes us into thinking that we will be alright, that God will not be upset with us and that he will dismiss the fact that we have disobeyed his clear command.

God says to do something or to not do something, we are sure of what he has instructed, yet we choose to something completely different, to go in a completely different path or we sort of do what he told us to do but not in the manner he commanded.

Some go as far as to add on to what he instructed. For example, he tells them to do just A but they decide that A is not sufficient or good enough and so they do A +B or they follow the parts of the instruction they like, while ignoring the rest.

Isn’t this issue of changing up God’s command to suit ourselves and according to our own intelligence, the very issue that has cost and will continue to cost some people in the world their salvation?

For, God commands all men everywhere to repent and to accept his Son the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour so as to gain eternal life but what do some people do? They create their own formula. They take the view that Jesus is not enough for salvation and therefore demonstrate that they do not believe God’s testimony, so they decide to meet God on their own terms. They add their own ‘goodness or righteousness’ to the mix and think that if they do enough charitable works and behave themselves well enough, they will be afforded a place in heaven.

Some add Mary to the mix and decide they will worship both Mary and Jesus, as if Mary, a sinful woman who was in need of Jesus’ salvation herself, could ever save anyone.

Furthermore, some of them, wise in their own conceit, have concluded that Jesus blood atonement is not potent enough to stand on its own. They have therefore decided to add the Old Testament law to the mix, although this was abolished by Jesus. They tell people that they must keep the sabbath, that they must not eat certain meats or any meat at all and that for good health, they must not drink milk.

Ironically, the Promised Land was described to the Israelites as overflowing with milk and honey and God has made it clear in these New Testament times, that EVERY creature that he has created is good and NOTHING to be refused.

Yet, as 1 Timothy 4:1-6 reminds us:

• “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”

Continuing on on the issue of disobedience, God’s Word says to go the whole distance but some people decide to go half way. He says for women to be silent in the Church and not to speak, yet some decide to put women on the pulpit or to give them a platform where men are present, to do exactly what God has in his Word, THRICE forbidden. They wilfully disobey and audaciously conclude, even as king Uzziah did to his detriment in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21, that God will be pleased (1 Corinthians 14:34-38; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; Revelation 2:18-24).

God says not to gossip and to stop badmouthing others but what do they do? Exactly what he has said not to do.

Some Christians go so far as to even try to reconfigure or remodel their sin, so as to make it fit within the structure of God’s Word. Such Christians only delude themselves and will have a rude awakening. For, God is not mocked.

If for example, God says not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever, it will be foolhardy for us to resolve in our heart that we WILL be yoked with such a person and then see to it that that person makes a ‘profession’ of faith (although not sincere or we simply don’t care either way) and then say that we have obeyed God and align ourselves with that person for marriage. We cannot commit fornication while unmarried, then marry quick when we discover we’re pregnant to cover our sin and then think that in moving forward, God will now bless our union.

Whatsoever we sow, it is THAT which we shall reap and disobedience can never be given a superficial ‘makeover’, so as to be converted into obedience.

Whereas we are prone to take the path of self-will and to do as we please therefore (even as children of God), the fact remains that disobedience does NOT pay.

If we look into the Word of God, we will see this in the examples of Adam, the Prophet in 1 Kings 13 and Saul.

EXAMPLE 1 – ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE

Adam was the first of God’s human creation. He was formed from the dust of the earth and to create his wife Eve, God chose to put him to sleep and use one of his ribs. When God created Adam and Eve, they were blessed by him (Genesis 1:26-28) and Adam had sweet fellowship with his maker, God even bringing the animals that he created, to him, to see what he would name them (Genesis 2:19).

Yet, something happened to break this fellowship. God gave Adam an instruction directly and even before his wife had been formed, yet Adam chose to disobey.

Genesis 2:15-17 states:

• “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Indisputably, Adam heard the command, understood the command, knew for certain what God wanted him not to do but yet, he allowed his wife to give him the very fruit that God told him they were not to eat, received it of her hand and ate it. In short, he chose to disobey.

Verse 6 of chapter 3 states:

• “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

It is important to note at this juncture, that Adam was not at any point duped by the lies that the devil (who had appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent), had told. 1 Timothy 2:14 states, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” He therefore chose to give in to his wife for whatever reason and in doing so, put his wife before God.

As a result of his disobedience, he and his wife were cast out of the garden of Eden but that was not all. The Bible states of what God told the serpent, Eve and Adam respectively:

• ^“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Life therefore became harder for Adam, Eve and the entire human race after that point, as a result of Adam’s disobedience. Yet, this was not all. The disobedience had even more consequences. Romans 5 tells us, that as a result of the disobedience of Adam, sin gained access to the world and as a result of that, death (which is the wage or payment or penalty for sin) also came.

This mortality then passed down from Adam to all of his descendants and is with us even today.

Adam died, Eve died, their children died, their children’s children died and since their time to now, mankind has been dying. Except for where God took a person directly from earth to heaven therefore (as he did with Enoch and Elijah), every human being now has an expiry date from the time he enters this world. For, as a result of Adam’s disobedience, it has been appointed unto mankind to die. He cannot escape it, pay his way out of it or in anyway avoid it.

Romans 5:12-21 uses statements that explains what transpired and how Adam’s actions impacted on the whole human race. For example, it states:

• “…as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…”
• “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression…“
• “…through the offence of one, many be dead…“
• “…as it was by one that sinned…“
• “…for the judgment was by one to condemnation…“
• “…by one man’s offence death reigned by one…“
• “…by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation…“
• “…by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners…“
• “…sin hath reigned unto death…“

From this we learn, that when we choose to disobey God, we sin against him and when we sin, we inherit a curse of death. As Christians, we have been gifted with eternal life through Jesus Christ, which was made available to use solely by the grace and mercy of God. However, although we are promised, due to our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and our having confessed his as Lord with our mouths (Romans 10:9-10), that we will have eternal life in heaven, we still physically die on earth.

Additionally, every time we sin on earth, we are choosing to step out of the domain of blessings. If we are genuine Christians, we will not lose our salvation but we will be detrimentally affected in one way or another, unless we repent. Sometimes though, even after we repent (as was evident with David who slept with a married woman and killed her husband to hide the fact that she was pregnant), there are consequences that still will flow.

The fact of the matter is that obedience brings blessings but disobedience brings a curse. When we step out of God’s safe net to disobey, we must be prepared to suffer sterility and death in our circumstances, whether this be in our finances, in our relationships, in our progression in life or otherwise.

EXAMPLE 2 – THE PROPHET’S DISOBEDIENCE

In 1 Kings 13, we also learn of a man of God, who chose to be disobedient. God sent him from Judah to Bethel to speak against the altar that Jeroboam, king of Israel had made for idolatrous purposes. Given that the prognosis for Jeroboam was not good, after the man of God made his pronouncement, Jeroboam sought to have hands laid on him but while in the process of giving the command, his own hand that he had used, dried up. He then besought the man of God to pray for him that his hand would be restored, which the man of God did and God restored it.

After this was done, the word of God states in 1 Kings 13:7-10:

• “And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.”

God had therefore given the man of God a charge, which he understood clearly. There was no issue in his mind or doubt as to whether God had really told him so. He knew for a surety that he was not to eat and not to drink any water while in Bethel and that when he was leaving, he was to take a different path to the path in which he had come. As a man of God, he knew that it was not his duty to question God or to ask why. He was to simply obey.

He obediently traveled to Bethel therefore and obediently delivered the message against the altar within the earshot of king Jeroboam. He then obediently refused to go home with the king to refresh himself with his dainties or to accept any reward from him and he obediently left Bethel through a different route to that which he had come.

He was therefore on a beautiful route to obedience and was making his way out of Bethel. However, like Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back when she was clearly commanded not to do so, this man of God returned to Bethel (when God never commanded him to do so) and ate and drank, which God told him not to do!

The Word of God states that, after he had begun his departure, an old prophet in Bethel, having been informed that he had visited and what he had said, pursued after him on an ass. He found him sitting under an oak and told him: “…Come home with me, and eat bread.”

Mindful of God’s command, the man of God informed the old prophet and rightly so:

• “…I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place. For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.”

This was all well and good. Thus far, he had obeyed the Lord.

However, he then allowed the old prophet to cause him to make an about turn. He allowed the old prophet to make him fall. Like Eve who listened to what the serpent had said in the garden of Eden and believed his lies over what God had already stated, this man of God listened to the old prophet and gave in to his request.

Verses 18-19 states of the old prophet:

• “He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. BUT HE LIED UNTO HIM. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.“

This was the beginning of the man of God’s demise. For, he allowed the words of the old prophet to hoodwink him and to cause him to turn away from his steadfastness.

It reminds us in a sobering way, that sometimes, the enemy will use people of our own household, from our own family, people who have professed to know Jesus Christ and attend Church and even some who are genuine believers and are in the body of Christ, to speak lies to us, so as to get us to turn away from our steadfastness with God. Whatever their motives may be, they will try to use their position, who they are reputed to be, their standing in the Church and their influence, to get us to believe that what we heard when God spoke to us was wrong, that maybe God did not tell us what he told us or that he has since changed his mind.

Yet, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Moses instructed the Israelites (and the principle is still applicable today):

• “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and OBEY HIS VOICE, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

• And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.”

Ironically, after the old prophet had gotten the man of God to disobey God, God used his very mouth to pronounce judgment on the man of God for his disobedience. Verses 20-26 states:

• “And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

• And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

• And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.”

EXAMPLE 3 – SAUL’S DISOBEDIENCE

We cannot talk about the issue of disobedience without discussing Saul.

Saul was the first king of Israel. He had been anointed by Samuel the Prophet upon God’s instruction, for this purpose. Yet, he was responsible for his own downfall, as he continually chose to disobey God. Whereas Adam and the Prophet in 1 Kings 13 fell through their one act of disobedience, Saul had a pattern of disobedience. He had a tendency to ignore God’s instruction and to do his own thing and then insist that he did obey or fish for excuses as to why he did not obey and why he was not to be held responsible, even going so far as to blame it on other people.

For example, in 1 Samuel 15, it says that:

• “Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and UTTERLY DESTROY ALL that they have, and SPARE THEM NOT; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

• And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley…And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And HE TOOK AGAG THE KING OF THE AMALEKITES ALIVE, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. BUT SAUL AND THE PEOPLE SPARED AGAG, AND THE BEST OF THE SHEEP, AND OF THE OXEN, AND OF THE FATLINGS, AND THE LAMBS, AND ALL THAT WAS GOOD, AND WOULD NOT UTTRLY DESTROY THEM: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

• Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night…And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

• And Saul said, THEY have brought them from the Amalekites: for THE PEOPLE spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

• Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and UTTERLY DESTROY the sinners the Amalekites, and FIGHT AGAINST THEM UNTIL THEY BE CONSUMED. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?

• And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. BUT THE PEOPLE took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.

• And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king...And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent…”

On a second occasion which preceded the above incident, Saul was given a series of instructions by Samuel, after he had anointed him to be king. As part of those instructions, he told him to go ahead of him to Gilgal and to wait until he arrived. He informed him that when he came, he would offer burnt offerings and sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings and that he would give Saul further instructions then.

Saul initially obeyed by going to Gilgal but when he found that Samuel was taking too long, he took matters into his own hands. The Word of God states in 1 Samuel 10:1-8 of Samuel and Saul’s interaction:

• “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

• Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

• After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

• And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, TILL I COME TO THEE, AND SHEW THEE WHAT THOU SHALT DO.”

Yet, in 1 Samuel 13:7-14, although Saul had gotten to the point where he was in Gilgal, once the seven days had expired and Samuel had not yet come, he decided to do what he, not being the Prophet, was not authorized to do. He decided to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings unto God, himself. Of course, this was unlawful, unauthorized, not at all acceptable to God and an act of disobedience. Saul however, tried to make excuses for his actions.

The scripture reads:

• “…As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. 

• And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, BECAUSE I SAW THAT THE PEOPLE WERE SCATTERED FROM ME, and that THOU CAMEST NOT WITHIN THE DAYS APPOINTED , and that THE PHILISTINES GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER AT MICHMASH; Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I FORCED MYSELF THEREFORE, and offered a burnt offering.“

Saul therefore blamed everyone else but himself. He blamed the people, he blamed Samuel for not coming on time and he blamed the Philistines for his actions. When it came to himself though, he said that he was forced to take the action he took. He therefore refused to call it disobedience but sought to give the impression that he was compelled to do as he did. He therefore refused to be truthful with Samuel and the God that Samuel represented.

In response to his list of excuses, Samuel told him in verses 13-14:

• “Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.”

As a result of Saul’s continued disobedience therefore and a reluctance to admit when he had messed up (he would only say he sinned when Samuel refused to accept his excuses, insisted that he had disobeyed and he was therefore cornered), the kingship was taken from Saul and given to another.

Due to his disobedience, God’s spirit left him and instead, an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him (1 Samuel 16:14). The Bible records his downward spiral: His paranoia, his fear, his envy, his rage, his attempts to frustrate the will of God, his lack of peace, his loss of popularity, his murderous actions, his acceptance of help from the devil, his unrepentance, his victim mentality and so many more, all of which culminated in his shameful death and all of which commenced with his disobedience.

IN CLOSING

A thought came to me a short while ago as I contemplated on the topic of this Article: As Christians, we can often assume that God is pleased with our actions, steps and directions and we often take it for granted that we are on that path of obedience. However, how many of us, ever pray to God to ask him to reveal any areas of disobedience in our lives, so that we can repent? How many of us actually have the courage to do so and to mean it?

The very thought scares me but what if it must be done? What if we have put blinders over our eyes and hearts, so that we would not have to deal with the fact (which our conscience knows full well), that we have sinned in some way against God and that in short, we have been disobedient?

(Written on 14th October, 2021)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, edifying or beneficial, you may also be interested in reading the following:

• Note 133 – ‘Were You Deceived Or Disobedient?’
• Note 152 – ‘Symptoms Of A Person Outside The Favour of God’
• Note 186 – ‘There Is Beautiful Provision In Obedience’
• Note 263 – ‘Can Disobedience Ever Be Justified?’
• Note 264 – ‘Partial Obedience = Complete Disobedience’

Additionally, under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ Page:

• Note 75 – ‘The Danger Of Impatience – He’s Taking Too Long’
• Note 230 – ‘Women Teaching In The Church – What Does God Command?’
• Note 232 – ‘What Sin Does Once Introduced – Based On The Story Of Adam & Eve And Cain & Abel’
• Note 254 – ‘Eight (8) Reasons Why You May Still Be Single’
• Note 284 – ‘Thyatira – My Humble View Of The Letters Of The Glorified Jesus To The Seven Churches – (Part 2)‘
• Note 300 – ‘God’s Traffic System’