The Real Change We Resist: Choosing Obedience to God

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Acts 5:29, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.'”

Background

One of our strange tendencies as humans is to do things like remind someone how much people dislike change as we are requiring them to do something differently. We think that in some way our acknowledging the uncomfortableness of change will somehow make it more palatable for those being affected. But I don’t think anyone truly thinks, “Well, since they told me I wasn’t going to like it, I like it better than I thought I would.” Another kind of change people don’t seem to care for much anymore is coins. When is the last time you saw someone pull some coins out of their pocket or purse and use them to pay for an item? Even when paying for your meal with a credit card at a restaurant, most of us will write in the tip so that the total bill comes out to a nice, round number. We don’t even want change to show up on our statements. The US Mint has $1.4 billion dollars in unused $1 coins sitting in their vaults simply because we would rather carry a paper dollar bill in our wallets or money clips than be forced to deal with the heavy jingle of coins. So, there’s change, and there’s change. We don’t want to do it, and we don’t want to use it. But one change has made its way into the thinking of the average human, as well as the average Christian. And that change is that we no longer must obey God rather than men.

Application

I know, your first thought is that’s true for the average citizen but not for you. You believe the Bible, go to church, and have a good relationship with Jesus. You serve, you give, you teach, and probably more. But, from your waking moments to when you doze off at night, are you constrained to obey God in every way? We fool ourselves by saying we don’t let others influence us to disobey God, when the one most responsible for our downfall is our self. We elect to follow our own wishes and impulses, and obeying God becomes an option, and then an inconvenience. We make the comment, voice the complaint, insist on our way, all the while believing the lie that God isn’t concerned with such trivial matters. Change can be trivial, be it altering the brand of soap you use, or the pennies lying in the parking lot. Is there any change needed in your obedience to God?

Charge

As we seek Him today, make it a priority to obey God before yourself and anyone else, and see how that change can feel.

Editor Comment: This devotional challenges believers to examine whether small, daily compromises have quietly replaced true obedience to God with obedience to self.