So obedience – perhaps not the most glamorous virtue. But what if we thought of Obedience less as a sort of passive virtue, and more as an entity created by God for labor. Having its own purpose and its own agency and work to accomplish – much like Truth which liberates (John 8:32), or Testing of our Faith which produces perseverance, or Perseverance’s work to produce maturity and wholeness (James 1:3-4). By now, many of us have come to understand obedience to be an expression of our love for God, and perhaps we even agree that blessing is oft times the fruit of obedience, but what of its work? What is the Work of Obedience?

What if Obedience has been assigned its own precise and profound wonder(s) to perform?

One writer observed that obedience to The Father’s instruction produces longevity and peace “My son (or daughter) do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.” Proverbs 3:1-2”

Another product of obedience is the guard against self-deception, and the thwarting of destruction.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish” Psalm 1:6

But I also like to think of obedience as a mechanism for establishing that optimal position or state in Christ – one in which we are “where He is.“ Where we are aligned in perfect harmony with Him. What if we recognized and respected this position as that place being prepared for us – that coveted place in Him. Could leading us into this perfect [holy/separated] union be the good work that He began and is seeing through to completion?

^“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” [John 14:3]

If we search a little farther, we may find that this union in Christ ultimately facilitates something more; His manifested glory.

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24

Obedience is like a life-saving, life-giving gift that keeps on giving. May we be quick to learn its true value and fully embrace it with gladness, even moreso in these treacherous times.

Original photo by Free Bird