The Results of Incomplete Obedience
‘But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant (Leviticus 26:14-15)
It has been suggested that in this portion of scripture there is a progression in the sin of Israel. They did not obey all the commandments, then started to reject them, and then ended up hating them. Incomplete obedience is always disobedience. In most cases the major indiscretions in our lives begin with compromise in the details of our walk with God. One little white lie will always lead to a big black one. A half-truth is a whole lie. Why is it that when we ignore our wrongs we proceed to hating the commandment. If you reject the truth you have to organize yourself against it. You either repent or you justify your actions to feel better about yourself. In following Christ, there is no middle ground. You either accept Him (the Truth) or you endeavor to discredit the message and in most cases the messenger. This is why totally following the truth (Christ) will always bring some form of persecution. The resistance we experience as believers over a period of time can lead to compromise on the small things in our walk with God. This is the crack in the dike that can open the floodgates to all sorts of things that can lead us to hate the commandments, which we first loved.
Pray with me. Lord, help me to keep short accounts with You. Father, help me to discern the little foxes that are there to hinder my relationship with you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Ken Barnes worked with Youth With A Mission for seventeen years, primarily involved in discipleship training and evangelism. He is the author of The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places, published in 2011 by YWAM Publishing, and Broken Vessels in 2021 through Kindle Direct Publishing. He holds a Master of Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Curriculum and Instruction. He currently is a freelance writer.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
This is VERY true. Ken. So often, we want things OUR way, when following Him turns out to be the easier and BETTER way