God is our creator, so for him to require obedience is reasonable. God expects all mankind to obey His standards of living. Universal obedience is the will of God. He requires us to obey Him sincerely and perpetually. This means that God wants us to obey Him from the heart and to have a good attitude regarding obedience. It also means that God’s desire is that we continue to walk in obedience. We can only walk in obedience the way God desires us to if we have Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

God is the only Lord over the conscience, so having a good conscience before God is key to obedience. We are to obey those who have earthly authority such as governments, parents, our boss at work and those who rightly have authority over us. However, if they command us to do anything that God forbids then we refuse to obey as we are to obey God first rather than man. This aspect of obedience was a matter of contention during the COVID-19 lockdown around the world. Some Christians felt that we ought to disobey governments and meet together. Other believers felt that we ought to obey lockdown rules and follow government advice.

We chiefly know the will of God by reading and meditating on Scripture. God reveals His will for mankind in His Word. Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” God has set His standard for right and wrong, true and false. Due to our sinfulness, we have the tendency to call good, evil and evil, good. The questions I would like us to consider today is this. How do we respond to God’s revealed will in Scripture? Do you desire to obey God or reject Him? Are we seeking to be transformed by God’s Word and will or are we going the way of the world?