God Desires True Followers

"God rather than men."

This is the mindset of the Christian. By this conviction the believer measures every activity, every thought, every word, every purpose, every goal, every motivation. Everything.

If your life is characterized by God rather than men, you will put to death anything and everything which is temporal and fleshly. When one has this life conviction, he lives now with his eye on eternal returns and consequences. A God rather than men eye keeps in close contact with the everlasting Word so that it might ever maintain the divine perspective. A God rather than men ear has been trained to love spiritual input from the Word over anything else it might hear.

My life, my eyes and my ears are a long way from this mindset. Sometimes I am not sure that I am even pressing toward that goal. I want to be more faithful in this, lest I lose the ultimate reward . . . and many others be lost with me.

"We ought to obey God."

Really now?! All the time? Sometimes I wonder if we live as though the main time it is important to obey God is when we have to choose between God and man. But what about obeying God even if there is no man pressing us to disobey Him? Unless we are in the "groove" of obeying God whole-heartedly in everything all the time, we will not be able to choose God as the Apostles did. Oh how easily I forget that big victories almost always result only from the cumulative fortification of many little victories!

Why ought we to obey God rather than men? Sure, Peter and the other apostles stated it as a fact. They surely had their reasons:

• God commands obedience (Deuteronomy 13:4).
• God blesses the obedient (Deuteronomy 11:27).
• God frees and restores those who obey Him (Deuteronomy 30:2,3).
• God is the life of the obedient (Deuteronomy 30:20).
• Obedience leads to continued faithfulness (1 Samuel 12:14).
• God claims those who obey Him (Jeremiah 7:23).
• Mercy shines on the obedient (Jeremiah 26:13).
• It is well with the obedient (Jeremiah 42:6).
• God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).
• God will avenge Himself of the disobedient (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
• God opens doors for those who will obey Him (Revelation 3:8).
• God keeps and sustains the obedient (Revelation 3:10).
• The obedient will one day be with God (Revelation 17:14).
• Those who obey have right to the tree of life (Revelation 22:14).
• The obedient are welcomed in the heavenly city (Revelation 22:14).
• God is faithful and merciful to the obedient (Deuteronomy 7:9)
• Obedience is the buttress of a goodly heritage (Deuteronomy 7:9).
• Obedience is how we show and know we love Him (John 14:15,23).
• Obedience puts us in fellowship with God (John 14:23).
• Those who obey abide in God's love (John 15:10).
• Obeying God shows our love for His children (1 John 5:2).