How Important Is Obedience To God?

How Important Is Obedience To God?

Exodus 4:24-26:

How important is obedience to the will of God? Here is an illustration from the life of Moses that should answer that question. While Moses and his family were on their way to Egypt, they stopped in an inn for rest. There the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him, because he had refused to obey that which he knew God required of him.

God required Moses to circumcise his son, but he had not done so. Moses knew what God required of him. It should have been done eight days after the boy was born. Moses had not obeyed God’s will. Maybe he was waiting until the boy was older. Maybe he had neglected his responsibility in deference to his wife Zipporah, choosing to please her rather than obey God. Maybe he just looked upon God’s command as a trivial, unimportant matter and neglected it. We are not told why he was disobedient, only that he was.

Because of Moses’ disobedience God sought to kill him. God crossed Moses’ path in the inn and demanded obedience. How he confronted him we are not told. These things are however clear:-

1) God made it known to Moses and his wife that he was determined that either Moses would obey him or he would kill him.

2) The specific matter of disobedience was the circumcision of his son.

3) Moses had to make a choice on the spot between his will and God’s will. In other words, God said to Moses, you are going to make a decision right now. You will either surrender everything to my rule, even your wife and son, or you will die.

Once Zipporah had circumcised their son, the Lord let Moses go. God will never accept partial surrender, or partial obedience. He requires absolute and universal surrender. Moses was willing to face Pharaoh at God’s command; but he was not willing to circumcise his son! The Lord would not tolerate such an attitude. Moses had to be broken at his point of rebellion.

What is your point of rebellion? Whatever you know to be God’s will to which you are yet disobedient is your point of rebellion; and that is the point at which you must surrender to Christ. You will never find peace with God until you surrender to Christ. Whatever the issue is between you and God, settle it quickly. If you refuse to do so, the Lord will slay you!