Creating Obedience
Major Bradley J. Caldwell
Retired Officer
USA Southern Territory
Scripture: Genesis 1:26, 2:15-17; Exodus 19:3-8a
How do we obey God? That question is not straightforward but poses multiple inquiries that proceed in order of importance from rear to front: “Who is God to humankind?” “What does it mean to obey Him?” and “What are the methods of such obedience?” At the same time, this first question of how we obey God also bypasses other diminishing questions: “Should we obey God at all?” Yes. “When should we obey God?” Always. “Can we obey God?” He would not command it if we could not accomplish it.
God’s Creation
To fully articulate how we obey God, we should first consider God’s creation of humankind. Were we created benevolently, selfishly, or indifferently? The agnostic mind cannot determine any decisive evidence, suggesting we might be created neither for obedience nor for any meaningful connection with our Creator. A selfish God might find perverse enjoyment in assigning us unpleasant tasks and then twisting our arms like a cosmic bully, so that our obedience never comes freely or adds to our enjoyment of life.
When we consider God’s granting us a caring frame of obedience to Him, our minds wrestle to comprehend why the maker of the universe would care for us given our limits. Yet we know from Genesis 1:26 that we are made in the image of God, meaning that we are designed to possess and exhibit His selflessly loving character. We also know from this same verse that God did not design us merely that He might dominate us—He placed us in His abundant garden and planned that we should kindly rule His creation in all respects and oversee its development and purposeful direction.
Obedience or Compliance?
So what does it mean to obey such a God? Contrary to common understanding, citizens do not obey laws. Laws may be followed, but governments are obeyed, specifically governments viewed as exercising authority. As an example, a driver who considers driving at a speed that exceeds the established (legal) speed limit does not say to himself, “I cannot act on that interest because words are written down that state driving above the speed limit is forbidden.” The driver instead thinks, “If I break the speed limit, which is the same as breaking the law, local government agents could rightfully apprehend and punish me. In deference to such governmental authority, I will drive within legal limits of speed.”
Such penal laws are created, adapted, and discarded according to societal conditions and the wills of influential people within each society. The relevant governmental authorities who enforce these laws also change, whether by due process, violent overthrow, death, and other means.
In the garden of Eden, God did not supply Adam with similar penal laws and corresponding punishments for breaching them. Instead, He presented Himself as authority personified. What He speaks is simply true—more like a law of gravity than a behavioral constraint. We also know that God has no needs—He is omnisufficient, and human obedience will not overcome any deficiency in God’s existence. If our obedience is not for His benefit, it must be for our own.
Commandments as Love
Consider God’s premier command to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” This conditional expression does not read like a detached prohibition, but like a protective boundary meant to guard Adam’s quality of life. God says Adam is free—loved, trusted, fortified—but freedom requires options, and choosing to eat from this tree will destroy Adam.
God’s warning proves sadly reliable. When Adam and Eve ignore His established boundaries and act independent of His loving authority, their lives and world suffer drastic consequences. Sin, not a part of God’s design but a concrete consequence of human disobedience, now stands between God and those meant to resemble and relate with Him. As a result, obedience to God also transforms, by God’s choice, from loving guidance to a painful rescue mission. Gradually God leads humankind into a detailed system of requirement and consequences either desirable or defeating.
But God does not abandon His benevolent concern for humankind and reduce His connection to a detached requirement of their demonstrable compliance with His stern dictates. In Exodus 19:3-8a, directly prior to God’s dispensing the Ten Commandment to Moses, He outlines His foundational intentions for His chosen people Israel and affords them practical help in obeying Him.
Lovingly Trust
God still desires to relate to humankind through their trusting obedience rather than their grudging self-preservation. God in effect proposes, “If you will obey, then you can enjoy the bountiful and meaningful existence I have always desired for you.”
We also recognize in this passage two clear indications of what our method of obeying God involves. First, God does not say, “Follow these instructions. Do these things.” Rather, we should obey—trust, respect, believe—His voice, His loving truth, embracing His guidance as uncreated, unchanging law that we can ignore only to our utter peril.
Second, He does not assign Israel burdensome duties but partners with them towards a mutually rewarding end—God covenants with Israel. Covenant was an ancient business construct uniting two partners under an if/then arrangement—if you do these things for me, then I will do those things for you. But since we know that God needs nothing from us, He has partnered with Israel at no essential benefit to Himself. His covenant approach communicates to Israel that He wants unity with them—and with us today--rather than enforced subservience.
Our Corporate Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank You for the commandments You have given so that we may order our lives as You intended. This world is often so bewildering and confusing and if we did not have direction from You we would be condemned to stumble and fall, to wander along a path to destruction. But You have told us what to do, not to make us slaves but to protect us and to guide us. Guard us against our own foolishness and pride as we yield ourselves to You. You designed us for Yourself. Help us always to remember that it is only in living for You that we can find our highest and best purpose. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Norway, Iceland &
the Faeroes Islands Territory
Thinking It Through
If God's way is the best way, why do we so often struggle against it? What possible gain can there be to disobeying Him and going our own way? What profit can there be in that? So why do we keep doing it?
Notable Quotables
When obedience to God contradicts what I think will give me pleasure, let me ask myself if I love Him. - Elisabeth Elliott
When we speak of obedience, we are reminded of that standard in our Christian songs, "Trust and Obey." This rendition is brought to us by the Fountainview Academy.
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: SpiritualLifeDevelopment@uss.salvationarmy.org or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain