Based on 2 Samuel 2:1-7 (New King James Version)
“It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Go up.’ David said, ‘Where shall I go up?’ And He said, ‘To Hebron.’ So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, ‘The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.’ So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, ‘You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him. And now may the Lord show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness, because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.’”
One of the big problems that exists today in Christianity is the lack of obedience to God. And what the devil has used to be able to have this evil happen are the bad doctrines that he has infiltrated by using many of these so called ministers and preachers of God, by instilling everything that has to do with the abuse or ill use of God’s grace and love. In many places, God’s love and grace are taught like a license to sin, as if God’s grace and love has nothing to do with obeying and living a life that glorifies God. We can try to blame the devil all we want (and he is guilty), but there is also a great attraction to this evil. So then, the same evil that happened in the garden of Eden with Satan, Adam, and Eve is produced. The devil tempted man with something that appeared to be true to make them fall, but the woman and man found both pleasing and appetizing this false truth they were being sold, and they fell precisely in the sin that we are talking about today, the sin of disobedience, which involves many things.
For starters, disobedience never brings anything good, no matter how much love and grace God dispenses. In all reality, disobedience produced the fall of man, and if there is no obedience towards God and to what He commands, all of God’s grace and love cannot fix the consequences of the sin of disobedience. For it is written: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Romans 6:15-16. What we need to understand is that we were created by God, and we were made for service, and as such, what we choose to do with ourselves is what we wind up serving, and therefore, we become servants and slaves to what we do. And as the Word just explained, if we obey God, then we become slaves (because of love) for God, but if we serve sin, we then become slaves to sin and to whoever sin belongs to. So, will God’s grace and love be able to save us if we choose to serve sin and the devil?
This is something also that the Word of God teaches: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:1-4. And this is the greatest commandment and perfect will of God that we should fulfill through Jesus Christ: “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:29-31. There is no love for God if there is a desire to disobey.
As a beginning to obedience to God, the very obedience that saves us is when we repent and convert from all of our sins, and when we acknowledge and make Jesus the Lord of our lives, and this cannot just be words, but rather, with all of our heart. And this is only the beginning, just as the Word explains it, that when we come to Christ we are born again in Christ, and as a birth, a person needs to grow and develop to become what God desires for them to be. This is God’s will also: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We were saved by God’s grace and love, but so we can do those things that perpetuate life, for every good work, and not for us to do whatever we want, and least of all, for us to return to the sin that caused our spiritual death to begin with. This is the great error that is taught as truth, that God’s love consists in that God needs to forgive our unrepentant disobedience and rebellions and for Him to serve us in whatever we want. And this is the same error that is taught as love also, that loving your neighbor consists in not giving them Godly counsel and letting them sink in their sin, and furthermore, support them in the wrong they do. Love can never consist of supporting sin and in not doing anything to help someone else that is destroying themselves in decadence. Christ died on the cross not so we can do what we want, or to fulfill our whims, and even far less, so we can serve sin in some way, but rather, He died and was resurrected to give us eternal life, and so we could be made free to do those things that do produce life.
Now then, what does all of this have to do with today’s passage? And so, we need to read this: “And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—” Acts 13:21-23. David was not a perfect man, but for the majority of his life, he lived a lifestyle of obedience to God, looking to do what was pleasing to God, and supporting those that did the same. And God would guide David because he would look to do God’s will, not his own will. He understood that the Lord was the Lord and his desire was to do what his Lord desired. This same concept exists today, especially as a product of the death and sacrifice of our Lord. God’s grace and love was shown on the cross so that we could be able to belong to the Lord through faith, to make us part of His kingdom, and to be able to live a life free from the power of sin so we can fulfill God’s will,. And so, are you living a lifestyle of obedience to the Lord by looking to do His will? Lord bless! John