THE CORE OF OBEDIENCE
[8-minute read]
Self-determination is infectious, but so is obedience to God - the opposite of relying on our own judgment. Genesis chapter 2 showed us how the first humans, Adam and Eve, traded freedom, calling and rulership for ‘having a mind of their own’. When Adam and Eve downplayed what ‘God said’ and started to trust a better opinion, their obedience became fractured.
Today, we can downplay what God says through His Word and His Holy Spirit by playing up self-determination with expressions like ‘I need to think about it’, 'It's just who I am', or 'God made me this way'. By doing so, we are reframing disobedience and elevating it to who we are - our identity - rather than a sin we are repeatedly warned about in the Bible.
In everyday life, in all relationships, in all challenges we face, we must be guided by Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight.” In short, it means that our obedience to God does not need our opinion!
It’s not to say that obedience to God is easy! But it is harder without prioritising our relationship with Him over everything else in life. If someone or something we are afraid of losing is more important to us than God, we will rank His counsel as secondary and optional. We will be fixated on achieving compromises or win-win outcomes in order to avoid displeasure. This is nothing more than utilitarian thinking, focused on outcomes that achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Juxtaposed against this, Jesus Himself said, “If you love Me, obey My commandments.” (John 14:15). This means that if we love Jesus, we must trust Him enough to obey Him.
Obedience is an active posture, and requires us to die to self-determination. Anyone who has obeyed God knows that it is not a dead end option that locks us in a helpless state, but leads us into a progressive life whether now or later. Tellingly, embedded in the core of the word OBEDIENCE is the word DIE; suggesting also the serious consequences of disobedience to God. [Read up on Deuteronomy 28 on the blessings of obedience and curses of disobedience.]
Before God sent His Son to reconcile with us, the Word of God warned us not to dilute or reframe what God requires of us in our action and choices. Deuteronomy 4:1-2 asserts, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” [emphasis added].
Jesus Himself set the standard for our obedience to God. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.” (Phillipians 2:8 NASB).
We can draw three critical lessons about obedience from the account of a fishing expedition from Luke 5:1-11. Simon and a couple of experienced fishermen had been out at sea the entire night and returned with nothing in their harvest. Jesus had used Simon’s boat as a speaking platform to the crowds that had gathered there. When the Lord had finished, He instructed Simon to move the boat out to deeper waters for another haul. Against all his professional judgment, Simon did as Jesus instructed. And caught ‘such a large number of fish that their nets began to break’!
THREE CRITICAL LESSONS ON OBEDIENCE
DIE TOWHAT MAKES SENSE
Simon suspended his deep knowledge as an experienced fisherman and allowed himself to literally go deeper and further with Jesus by doing exactly what the Lord suggested. While the resulting great haul of fishes did not rewrite the rules of fishing, it left an important lesson for us today about the rewards of obedience.
Usually what makes sense to us are not only the voices of people in our lives – our parents, spouses, family and friends – but also, our own voices of reason and self-protection. In concert, these voices have the power to subdue the counsel of God’s Word and disrupt our ability to respond in obedience. Dying to what makes sense requires us to turn down these voices and allow us to find the voice of our obedience to God.
In 1 Samuel chapter 15, we read that King Saul thought that sparing the life of the captured king as a victory trophy, and keeping the enemy’s treasures to offer as sacrifice to God was a good idea when he was specifically told “Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkey”. God promptly sent a rebuke through the prophet Samuel, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:3, 15:8-9).
Question: What has God been prompting you about a situation or a relationship? Are you feeling exhausted from vascillating between what makes sense to you and your desire to obey God and do what is right?
DIE IN FULL SURRENDER
To die in full surrender to God requires us to dethrone the control of precedence (or rely on our past experiences to inform our actions). Common signs that we are allowing our past experiences to influence our obedience to God includes resistance. ‘It won’t work’, ‘I have tried everything’, ‘if I did this (to obey God) the outcome will be that’. The focus is on what works and what does not work instead of what is important to God.
So what does full surrender to God look like in challenging situations?
For those with estranged relationships, it means to respond with grace and not add insult to injury.
For those with elderly dependents, it means to trust that God is in the details without overwhelming ourselves with endless what-if scenarios.
For those in a new season of life and hesistant about next steps, it means to set aside the need for security and preservation and trust that we will find God’s preparations ahead of us.
Jesus was fully aware that the fishermen out at sea with Simon had a unproductive night of fishing when he picked Simon’s boat out of all the others there. He knew that Simon was an experienced fisherman and that He had no credibility to give expert fishing advice to him. But the bumper catch that Jesus gave them had nothing to do with superior fishing techniques but was an invitation for Simon to put his faith in Jesus. So he dropped everything he knew about fishing when he went further in obedience and dropped his nets into the deeper waters.
Jesus later taught, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28). To obey the Word of God demands the submission of our will to do what it says. We are not blessed to merely hear the Word, read the Word, meditate on the Word but only when we obey the Word.
Hudson Taylor, the well-known pioneer missionary to China, observed that the real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.
Question: Have we given too much power to the voice of our will, our preferences, our expertise, our desires and our reputation?
DIE TO PERSONAL AMBITIONS
Personal ambitions consider achievements from the viewpoint of ‘what do I want to be’, while surrender to God asks ‘what does God want me to become’ regardless of what we may be required to do. The nuances between the two are hard to detect immediately.
Let’s also be mindful that an avoidance of success does not necessarily reflect humility or that we are serving God effectively. It can point to a lack of personal growth.
Let’s say someone feels that God has called them to ministry but only in leadership positions. So they are resentful about running errands for others. Or another feels led to speak, but all they do is editing speeches for others. If we miss what God calls us to become, we will never fully enjoy the tasks involved in the journey of becoming.
Notice that Simon the fisherman did not argue with Jesus when told to let down the nets in deeper waters. He could have told Jesus to stay in His lane of preaching and teaching, but not fishing! The call of discipleship is a call to obedience. Simon was an ordinary fisherman, selected, not for his scholarly knowledge of the Laws but, for his decisive trust in the Lord and his ability to discern things of God.
As soon as he saw the big haul of fish, he knew he was standing on holy ground in the presence of divinity. Instantly, he ‘fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’
Jesus responded, “‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’” Until then, Simon was just doing a job. After Jesus called, he found a purpose to live for, regardless of what he would do next. Without any protest at all, his fishing partners, James and John, too, “left everything and followed Him.”(Luke 5:11).
Make this your question for God today - What do You want me to become?
The above three lessons lie in the core of our obedience to God. But these are not self-help tips for solo Christian living. It is important for us to be transparent about our obedience to God with each other.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 29 August 2026.
