Obey my voice, and I will be your God

Obey my voice, and I will be your God

Scripture:- But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. Jeremiah 7:23

Observation:- What does God command? Obey my voice! Where do we hear God’s voice? Mainly by reading His Word in the Bible. Can we call God our God, but not obey Him? No, if we do not obey Him, He is not our God, and we are not His people. What is the result of hearing God’s voice and walking in His ways? Things will go well with us. That is the promise of God for those who obey Him.

Now, during Old Testament times, when God gave the law through Moses spelling out His righteous requirements, the people of Israel failed miserably. In response, God told them that in the future, He would establish a new covenant with them, writing His law on their hearts and minds. And this was established when Jesus came as the mediator of the new covenant and gave us His Holy Spirit, the Great Counselor and Teacher who would guide us how to live according to God’s ways. However, does that mean there is no longer any need or effort on our part to obey God’s commandments. Does having a new heart mean that we will automatically obey God and do what is righteous? No! We are saved by grace, through faith, and not by works. We are new creations in God when we receive Jesus into our hearts. Yet, we find that we are still not perfect. We still have many weaknesses and sins. It is true that our works cannot earn our salvation or help us keep our salvation. We are saved only by the righteousness of Jesus Christ through His perfect sacrifice. We are forgiven, past, present, future by the blood of Jesus, but as Jesus said, ”I am the vine, you are the branches, remain in Me and I will remain in you”.

How do we remain in Jesus? By obeying Him, reading His Word and listening to the Holy Spirit which He has given us. We have a great advantage over those in the Old Testament because the Holy Spirit is with us to guide us and counsel us. Still, we have to make a conscious choice to obey His voice. There are still many things on earth that vie for our attention and call us to do or see things that are contrary to the will of the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit will not force His will upon us for that is not His way. If we continue to grieve the Holy Spirit by disobedience, a time will come when He may not remain with us.

How do we know we are walking by the Holy Spirit? Is our walk moving us to greater love of God and of Jesus and of others? Is the Word coming alive to us? Is what we are doing giving us peace and joy? The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. If we are growing in these, we must be growing in the Holy Spirit.

Application:- Seek out the Holy Spirit whom Jesus has given us when we received Him. Let us learn to be obedient to His voice, and also reading the Word often and the fruit in our lives to make sure we are following the right path.

Prayer:- Lord, open my eyes and ears that I may see and hear what Your Spirit says to me. Mould my heart to seek Your will O Lord. Let me always remain in you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus name, Amen.