Fear No Fear

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;” (Isaiah 1:19, MEV). God loves us enough to give us good things. Do we love Him enough to obey willingly? This is a principle we see throughout the Word from the very beginning to the very end. At times it is specifically directed at the people of Israel, the chosen children of God (like it is here in today’s verse). At other times, it is directed at all those who believe in God. It is said over and over and over. God is a GOOD God. He has GOOD things for us. We’re doing a thematic read through of the Bible this year (Nested In Him). Every day we read it, I ask my kids what theme they see. One of my sons has found the same theme in 98% of all the days we have read so far: obey God. It’s inescapable. The question becomes not should we obey (obviously we should), but WHY are we obeying? This is where religious thinking steps in. Many believers feel they should obey because if they don’t God will strike them with calamity – not the truth and there is no biblical support for it. Many believers feel they should obey because that’s how we justify and keep our salvation – not the truth and there is no biblical support for it. We should obey because God loves us and we are supposed to love Him. Period. You don’t rebel and rail against someone you love when you are being loving. Especially if they are above you in the pecking order – think young children and parents. We obey because that’s how we receive good things. God wants to give us good things. He gives good things to His obedient children. LOTS of biblical support for that. God is seeking to get GOOD things into our hands. God is seeking to share His presence with us. God is seeking to teach us righteousness. God is seeking to get us into a relationship with Him so that we know Him deeply and intimately. None of that can happen if we are rebelling against Him and putting ourselves, our wants, our desires, and our ideas first. If we are not staying where He says, doing what He says, and thinking in alignment with Him, we are going to miss out. We will leave the blessing zone and end up in the weeds at the mercy of the curse. If we obey, we will be where the blessing is. Where He is interacting with us. Where He is correcting us. Where He is fellowshipping with us. Where He is giving us the daily sustenance that we need to prosper in all areas of our lives – regardless of circumstances or how it looks to the rest of the world. If we obey, good things follow. If we obey, we get to fellowship. If we obey, we aren’t hindering the good things of God. We aren’t hindering what He wants to do in our lives. We aren’t refusing to receive. If we obey, we’ll be thankful and worshipful and eager for more of Him. God wants us to obey for OUR benefit. For OUR sake. Obedience brings us good things. And who doesn’t want that?