THE FRUITS OF OBEDIENCE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I will listen to what God the Lord says; He promises peace to His people, His faithful servants — but let them not turn to folly. Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before Him and prepares the way for His steps.

Psalm 85:8-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Call me a dreamer but I yearn for a world portrayed by the psalmist at the end of the 85th Psalm, a world overflowing with the abundant harvest of fruit bore from an obedient population of God’s people. Maybe you crave this as well.

For picture a world full of peace and love and faithfulness and righteousness and goodness and, most of all, salvation. Maybe we’ll never see this kind of world until the day we abide with God and Jesus forever but we should never discount the fact that we can have this kind of world right here and right now on earth.

It’s definitely within our reach but it will only become reality if ever man and woman become obedient to the Lord, obedient to His word and obedient to what that word calls us to do.

Consider the prayer Jesus taught us. What did He say we should pray for?

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10

The psalmist starts this passage with a simple proclamation:

“I will listen to what God the Lord says.”

The first step of obedience is to listen to God, to receive His word whether written or by way of His still small voice. How will we know what God wants if we don’t first listen? And if we’re going to have any chance of having our prayer for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven then we have to listen to and then submit to His will.

You see, it’s just not enough to listen. We need to take action once we receive what God is telling us to do. Consider this word of God that underscores this fact:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

This is the essence of obedience. First, realizing we need God’s help to live right. Second, turning to Him for His guidance and listening intently to His direction. And finally, putting His direction into action, not just merely listening to the word but doing what it says.

So what happens when we do this?

We experience the fruits of obedience. What are they? Well, the psalmist painted this picture of how our world might look:

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before Him and prepares the way for His steps.

What an amazingly beautiful poetic depiction of what could happen in every land as a result of full obedience to God’s guidance for life as we experience a harvest of love and faithfulness, righteousness and peace, goodness and salvation as God’s glory is revealed in its fullest measure. And as the Holy Spirit exercises full power in the hearts of obedient believers everywhere, we also find in Galatians a list of other fruits we’ll reap, gifts like joy and forbearance and kindness and gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Friends, we need to be in prayer over this every day as we look at the world we live in. We can’t give up hope that we can change our world one heart at a time as we turn toward God in repentance and a renewed obedience for His will to be done in our lives and here on earth as it is in heaven.

One thing is for sure. God has worked greater miracles than turning this world around in the right direction. And even if we won’t do it on our own, there will come a day when Jesus will return and the kind of world we’re talking about will happen even more magnificently than the psalmist could ever frame in words. It’s something that all believers in Christ can look forward to as we try and change our world in the here and now, sowing the seeds that will bear the fruits of obedience.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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