Price of disobedience . . .

Have you ever wondered why it is that if you disobey a rule, you parents, the law, whatever – the price that you pay seems so much higher than the price of obedience? I was talking with a friend that is a student pastor in our area and we got to talking about a lesson that he taught recently. What got us on the subject was the question that he had asked his students – had anyone ever sinned. Now all hands went up (because according to God’s word we have all sinned). He then asked if it seemed like things just never seemed to be the same after they sinned – maybe things were all mixed up and confused.

Let me give you and example – say that you tell a lie. Just to stay out of trouble you have to remember the lie that you told – exactly. If not – then you have to keep making up lies to try and stay ahead of the problem. The punishment in the end is always worse and you always seem to get caught. Well, believe it or not God set a precedent in His word with the Hebrew children – His chosen people.

If you go to the Old Testament and to the book of Deuteronomy and then chapter 28 you will find what happens when God’s people were obedient and what happens when they were disobedient. The first 15 verses deal with the blessings that the people would gain from being obedient. The next 53 verses deal with the problems that come from being disobedient. In verse 20 God states that He will send confusion (among other less pleasant things) as a result of disobedience. Not just a little confusion but confusion in everything that they try to do. Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you did something wrong – let’s say you told a lie – and now your whole life seems to be confused and turned upside down? Well, there is a way out of this problem.

In First John 1:9 it says that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful to forgive us our sins. Now, that does not mean that we will not have to pay a price for our disobedience. Through confession and repentance (turning from what we did and back to Jesus) we can restore our relationship with Jesus. Our relationships with those around us that we wronged through our disobedience may take a little longer but through Jesus and His help that can be restored also. Obedience is not always the easiest thing to do – but it is always the blessed way of doing something.

So at the end of this post let me ask you a question – has God asked you to do something, maybe it does not fit into what you have planned for your life and you have not been obedient? Does everything seem confused and upside down? Has your disobedience begun to invade other parts of your life? Maybe you need to spend sometime in First John. God has always been faithful to forgive me in my life when I was not obedient and with time so have the people around me.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and what ever He asks you to do say – YES LORD!