FULL OBEDIENCE

And being ready to punish all disobedience when your OBEDIENCE is FULFILLED – 2 Corinthians 10:6

Experiencing and enjoying the Fullness of God and of His blessings are founded on COMPLETE OBEDIENCE to His Word and Will: “and being ready to punish all disobedience when your OBEDIENCE is FULFILLED” (2 Cor.10:6). It is not sufficient to obey to a measure; our obedience must be fulfilled, complete, and FULL. God is not slack concerning His promises; neither is He carefree or careless about His expectations. His covenant blessings are usually conditional upon our obedience, as the book of Deuteronomy aptly illustrates: “Now it shall come to pass, if you DILIGENTLY OBEY the voice of the LORD your God, to observe CAREFULLY all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And ALL these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you OBEY the voice of the LORD your God” (Dt.28: 1-2). Diligent and careful obedience is His heart-cry: “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and ALWAYS KEEP ALL My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Dt.5:29).

Israel’s journey from Egypt should have taken only eleven days, but it became forty years of wandering due to disobedience and unbelief. Their leader, Moses, should have learnt from this, but sadly, he didn’t! After delivering millions of people from bondage and servitude, he failed to accomplish what was possibly his greatest desire on earth – to set foot in the Promised Land! As he stood on the brink of what could have been his triumphant moment, he was no doubt painfully aware that he would never enter, a regretful reward of partial obedience to God (Num.20:12). The fact that even a great leader and prophet like Moses was held accountable for a sinful choice demonstrates to us that obedience and disobedience are choices with enormous stakes (Dt. 4:2, 9). Moses paid the severe price of being barred from entering Canaan. Nonetheless, God graciously allowed him to experience the preliminary victories and to view Canaan from the slopes of Pisgah.

What we call “partial” obedience equals disobedience before God! King Saul “partially obeyed” and lost his kingdom and his place in the eternal scheme of things. Samuel told him: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God…For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue” (1Sam.13:13-14a). What ultimately sealed Saul’s fate was his sparing of Agag and the spoils of war, again in partial obedience, leading to a tragic termination of destiny: “Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments” (1Sam.15:10-11). Yet, Saul assumed that he had “performed the commandment of the LORD” (v.13). He continued to argue with Samuel, claiming that he had “obeyed the voice of the LORD” (v.20). Then, Samuel gave this final counsel: “Has 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 heed than the fat of rams” (v.22).

Obedience to God always leads to blessings; disobedience to heartaches. However, if all we had were the world’s ideas, we might have ended up feeling that obedience is extremely difficult or impossible! The biblical meaning of obeying God differs radically from worldly notions. The Bible equates obedience with LOVE. Jesus said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jh. 14:15). Our Love for Him is our greatest motivation to obey Him. That is the first and greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37–38). God Himself created this “circle of love” for us, to make obedience possible – and even easy. God gave us laws, commandments, and instructions for our good, because He loves us. We can obey Him fully by the Power of Love!