Complete Obedience (Judges 2)

There are those who accuse those who walk in complete obedience to the Lord as being radical. Radical obedience. I guess the question I’d ask is if you are only partially obedient, are you actually being obedient?

If you ask your child to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen but they only do the dishes… have they obeyed? No.

Repeatedly, from the time the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt to when He brought them into the promised land, God told them to destroy all the inhabitants. But when push came to shove the Israelites were not consistent. Sometimes killing all, but sometimes letting some live subdued among them. Perhaps they were tired of fighting, or didn’t see the harm of making treaties… who knows. But they didn’t obey God’s command.

Finally after giving them ample time to complete His instructions, the Lord tells Israel (in Judges 2:1-5) that they had disobeyed despite the promises God had made them to give them victory and bless them. And the consequences of their disobedience (sin) was that these people would be a thorn in their side; leading them astray and causing trouble.

And they were. The rest of the book of Judges is all about Israel being turned to their evil ways and practices, God (in His mercy) letting them be put into subjection under them until finally they cried out to the Lord, Who would rescue them and they’d be ok for a while… ultimately being led astray again… the pattern repeats over and over.

What can we learn from this? Complete obedience – radical obedience – to the Lord is truly the best option. God truly knows what’s best for us. It’s wisdom to trust Him. Disobedience only serves to put us out of alignment with God and causes us a world of pain.

What areas of your life do you know you are compromising on what God’s told you to do? Why have you compromised? Did you even pause to think of the compromise as disobedience?

Nothing is worth being out of God’s will. I encourage you that if there are areas of compromise in your life – repent! And ask God for wisdom on realigning yourself with His will. It will be worth it if you do… not necessarily easy, but worth it. 🙂

3 Replies to “Complete Obedience (Judges 2)”

  1. The timing of this is kind of funny… I was driving to work this morning thinking about the last couple of years and all that God has brought through. I couldn’t help but wonder about where I’ve hit the mark and where I’ve missed, and then wondering where I am currently missing the mark. I want my heart aligned with his in every single detail. That requires complete obedience. That is a thought I didn’t get to this morning but realized as soon as I read this. Now I just pray that my eyes would be open to see the areas I need to get obedient in and that my heart would align with his. Good thoughts here, as always, but particularly good timing today. 🙂

  2. Oh wow, so true. This is like lying…if you tell a little lie, it’s still a lie! Crazy how we think we are being obedient if we obey part of what God has told us to do, but not all. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

  3. You already know how I feel about this one. 🙂

    I believe “obedience” is an absolute. Either you are or you aren’t. We don’t like to think about that because most of the time….we aren’t.

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