In This Issue:
Obedience
Have A Clear Conscience
Our Benefits
Volume: 1069 October 26, 2026
Theme: Obedience
Unfortunately, most people naturally do not want to obey any authority. Often, it is a challenge to humble themselves to submit to a power over them.
In many lives, a power struggle rages as children do not want to obey parents, employees resist obeying employers, and even citizens refuse to obey laws. To some, obedience is no longer a struggle, as they have made up their minds a long time ago not to obey anyone but themselves, and certainly not to let anyone have any rule or reign over them.
Like it or not, all of us have to obey someone or an authority over us for the rest of our lives. Without order, anarchy and disorder will follow, as is evident in many communities today.
Ever since the Garden of Eden, man has struggled with whom he will obey. Someone pointed out that a main theme of the Bible is government: who will govern whom? Will it be God who rules and reigns in our lives, or will we not even obey Him, and instead be our own masters?
No matter what we have convinced ourselves to believe or what has been drummed into our heads, there are godly commandments to obey. Here is some of what God’s Word has to say about obedience:
- All have a command to submit to God’s law.
“Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.” Deuteronomy 27:10 Also: Psalm 18:44. - Obedience to His commandments is very important to God.
“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.” I Samuel 15:22 The context of this verse concerns Israel, but it reveals God’s heart for obedience to Him. - Because of Adam and Eve’s refusal to obey one of God’s commands, all are now born as sinners and will have to battle sin’s control the rest of their lives.
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19 - Many things in this world obey God. His word mentions that the weather, waves, animals, and the rest of His creation obey Him. It is a shame when we, who are created in His image, do not obey Him at all times.
“… for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.” Mark 1:27 Also: Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41. - Whether or not one admits it, one is obeying someone all the time. All are servants to one master, be it the Master of the universe or the master of one’s own selfish desires.
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:12 Also: Rom. 6:16. - God reminds us throughout the Bible that life will be easier and more blessed if we obey what He tells us to do.
“A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.” Deut. 11:27-28 Although the context is a command to Israel, the principle applies to the believer today when he obeys the Lord. Also I Sam. 12:14-15. - All will have to obey someone sometime. If they do not learn obedience at a younger age, they may struggle to obey authority later. That is one reason God commands children to submit to their parents’ authority.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1 Also: Colossians 3:20, Prov. 30:17, Exodus 20:12. - People need to obey God. That is part of God’s plan for the hierarchy of leadership.
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” I Corinthians 11:3 - Wives are to obey their husbands.
“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Ephesians 5:24 Also: I Peter 3:1. - We need to obey our employer.
“Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:” Colossians 3:22 Also: Titus 2:9. - We are to obey authorities over us. This includes teachers, police, and government. Not obeying the authority over us is disobeying God.
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:7 Also: Titus 3:1. However, when the commands and laws of the government or our authority contradict what God commands us to do, we should always obey God first: “… We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29 - The local church should obey God’s commands.
“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ …” Eph. 5:24
Again, no one wants to obey anyone. It is a very difficult thing to do. God, however, has laid out a leadership hierarchy that will work. We may not like the order of people that we are to submit to, but it is God’s plan. His plan works: choosing whom we will obey usually does not.
God’s commands are for our benefit. Father knows best! As Israel told Joshua, after they learned this truth the hard way, so should our heart’s desire be: “… The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” Joshua 24:24
“Obedience and respect at home prepare the way for obedience to the employer, and they are joined with other virtues that help assure a prosperous career, crowned with a ripe, honored old age. Disrespect for parents is often the first step in the downward track.” — D. L Moody
Have A Clear Conscience
Bill Brinkworth
A conscience is the sense of moral correctness that influences or controls one’s behavior and thoughts. For a Christian, that sense of right or wrong is often the imprint of biblical principles on one’s mind. The result of having a conscience free of nagging reminders is when one has peace, not guilt.
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” Acts 24:16
“And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” Acts 23:1
“Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” Hebrews 13:18
“Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” I Peter 3:16
When we ignore what our conscience reminds us of, the result is often a hardened heart to righteousness and the things of God.
“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” I Timothy 4:2
Keep your conscience clear from wrong, troubling, and guilty thoughts and actions. Obey what God has laid on your heart and has shown you to do.
“Obedience to God is the most infallible evidence of sincere and supreme love for him.” — Emmons
God commands nothing but what is beneficial.”
“And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,” Deuteronomy 10:12
To obey God is not so much our duty as our privilege and is the wise thing to do. His commandments help us. He bids us repent, and why? that our sins may be blotted out.
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19
He commands us to believe, and why? that we may be saved.
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:31
There is love in every one of His commandments.
“It is not enough to understand God’s Word or to talk about and dispute its teachings. The Bible’s commandments and principles must be obeyed.”
— Manton, 1620-1667