Do you struggle to obey God? We know what we should do and shouldn’t do, and yet we still disobey God. Why is that? Why is obeying God such a struggle?
Even when we do obey, we often resent it. We don’t like someone telling us what we can or can’t do. Our obedience is grudging and bitter. Why is that? Why is obeying God so dissatisfying?
Obedience is a struggle and dissatisfying because we often view God as a law enforcement officer who simply wants to keep rigid peace and order, rather than a heavenly father who wants to love and enjoy us.
If we could change our view of God, we would change our view of obedience. If we obey our heavenly father rather than an earthly police officer, our obedience will be much less of a struggle and much more satisfying. Genesis 6:17-22 can help us to do that. In verse 18, God says to Moses, “But I will establish my covenant with you.”
A COVENANT IS A SPECIAL PROMISE FROM GOD
- It’s not a general promise but a personal promise
- It’s not initiated by Noah but by God
- It’s not a promise of something but a promise of someone
- It’s not a shaky promise but an unbreakable promise.
A COVENANT IS A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
- God commits himself to Noah and his family
- God invites Noah and his family to commit to him
A COVENANT PRODUCES SPECIAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD
What’s the result of this covenant? “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him” (22).
- It’s not cold legal obedience – something for something
- It’s warm personal obedience – something for someone
As Jesus said, ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments….Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:15, 21). It’s love before law. It’s relationship before rules.
LIVING THE BIBLE
God’s special covenant promises enable and empower special obedience. If we put relationship before rules, we will find obedience less of a struggle and much more satisfying.
This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 4 in Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.
