For the Christian knowing God should be our highest priority. Sadly, many Christians only scratch the surface of really having an intimate relationship with the Lord because they fail to walk in obedience to His Word and will. While I will admit that the cost of obedience to Jesus is high, the blessings so far exceed the costs that I pray this devotion will help you if you are struggling with the need for self-denial and obedience to the Word and will of Christ.
I like how Sinclair B. Ferguson shares great insight in this whole area of knowing God and being obedient to Him: “There is no such thing as genuine knowledge of God that does not show itself in obedience to His Word and will. The person who wants to know God but who has no heart to obey Him will never enter the sacred courts where God reveals Himself to the soul of man. God does not give divine knowledge to those who have no desire to glorify Him.”1
The costs of obedience to Christ
When a person makes a decision to become a follower of Jesus, it isn’t often that individual fully comprehends, at the moment of conversion, the costs that are involved in being a disciple of Christ. But because the Holy Spirit now dwells within this new believer he or she soon begins to realize that everything must change in their life if they are to live to the glory of God. A new lifestyle of self-denial, sacrifice, turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, and putting Jesus first in everything we do and think must become our new way of thinking and behaving.
Thankfully our new spirit nature can overrule the old flesh nature that constantly kicks and screams at obeying this new lifestyle of obeying Christ. Living a life of obedience to our new Master means self can no longer have the preeminence it once had. Making God’s glory our primary focus in life, spending time in prayer and reading the Scriptures, living a holy life, and being willing to obey the commands and will of Jesus must not only become our new way of living, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, our new heart’s desire. So, to put it another way, we must echo the words of the Apostle Paul who proclaimed: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). So, obedience to Christ requires a total transformation from self-centered to Christ-centered. But praise God, since Christ now lives in the new believer, he or she has the capacity to carry out this new life of obedience!
The blessings of obedience to Christ
While obeying Christ may be costly, especially to our old nature, Satan does everything he can to blind us to the incredible blessings our new nature is able to experience that await the new Christian. First, just knowing that we are no longer under the bondage of sin is truly life liberating. Second, true peace and joy, which are by-products of being obedient to Christ, can now be ours no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in. Third, trusting Jesus allows us to know that even when we are going through a trial or suffering, that God has a master plan to use it for our ultimate good and His glory. Fourth, God will dispense some of His divine knowledge to us and allow us to experience deep intimacy with Jesus – and what can be better than this. And fifth, we can know with certainty that even when the world may mock and persecute us for following the ways of Christ we will accrue amazing treasures in heaven, for we read: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
So, while the costs of being a disciple of Christ are indeed high, the blessings far exceed the sacrifices we make for Jesus. Even if our obedience to Christ may cause us some temporary suffering, the Apostle Paul said it well: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).