Faith Works With Obedience: Be a Doer of The Word

Do you often find yourself struggling to obey the word of God? If you think it is okay to argue with God and disobey His word, am here to tell you to rethink that again. It is wrong and does not help you in anyway. It does not show that you believe in God. And it does not prove that you love the Lord. Because remember what Jesus said in John 14:15, that “If you love me, keep my commandments”.

…But be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22

… He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net. Luke 5:4–5

Now, we are told in the opening statements of Luke 5:1–11, that the multitude were pressing on Jesus, to hear the Word of God. By then Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. It was then that he noticed two boats at shore without the fishermen in it. We are also told that the fishermen were washing their nets, an indication that they were bringing their work to a close. It means they had finished for they day and were retiring to their homes.

The boat Jesus got on, belonged to Simon, whom Jesus asked to push away from the land. And he taught the people while on the boat. After some time, he stopped teaching and asked Simon to launch into the deep. Initially it would seem Simon wanted to protest that request, but he adds, “nevertheless, at your word I will let down the nets”.

Simon’s decision to obey Jesus, resulted in a heavy catch to the extent that their nets were breaking. They had to signal to their other partners in other boats to come and help them out. The boats were filled to a point where they began to sink. This astonished Simon and all who were present then, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

Obeying God’s Word

There an enormous number of benefits to our obedience to the word of God, spoken or written. The key points help us to understand and appreciate the necessity of obedience when it comes to God. And in other cases our relationship with each other as human beings. It is the positive response we give to the word of God, by faith that can cause the impossible to become possible. Our obedience works with our faith. Paul captures the importance of faith in our daily life and relationship with God when he said in Hebrews 11:6,

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Faith works with Absolute Obedience

Faith and obedience are two inseparable friends. These two will always work together to bring about the blessings any Christian desires. In this case, we can say that Simon had faith in Jesus. By faith he obeyed the command of Jesus. In the end his faith was even strengthened the more. He was now willing to trust Jesus with his life as we are told in the passage that he left everything and followed Jesus. We should also understand that anytime we obey God’s word, we are exercising our faith. We cannot say we believe in Him and yet disobey His word. The two must work together. We can also learn from Abraham in the following scripture from Hebrews 11:8.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

This means, God’s instructions or command may not sound logical, but because of faith, we must obey.

Obedience Releases God’s Blessings

When we obey God’s word, His blessings are made available to us. Just as he promised to the Israelite in Deuteronomy, His promises to us too comes with obedience. If we obey we will enjoy all the benefits of whatever promises He assures us of. Simon and his friends caught much fish than they may have been able to catch on a normal fishing day. This miracle came about because he obeyed Jesus’ instruction.

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 28:2

Our Obedience brings God’s Blessings to Others

You will notice that when Simon obeyed Jesus’ instructions, the miracle that happened benefited his other partners who came with their boats to help catch the fishes. What happened astonished everybody who was present, and more especially when others also had a share in the blessing.Our obedience to God’s word can lead to an overflow of His blessings from us to other people close to us.

In a nutshell, if you consider yourself as a true friend of God. If you know in your heart that you truly are a child of God, then, I wish to remind you that, as a child, obedience is very important in your relationship with your father. Let us look at our lives again and ask if we have ever had to ignore God’s instructions because we did not feel good about it. While on that, we ought to be aware that God’s ways are not our ways, neither His thoughts our thoughts.

And again, from the men of faith we read or hear about from the Bible, we see something very key in their relationships with God; obedience was working with their faith. Don’t just talk about believing in God. If you believe, then obey. That is the only way you can receive the promises of blessings.