Motivated to Obey
by Tara Lang Chapman
June 2009, Roman calendar
The fear of the ETERNAL is the beginning of knowledge. ~Proverbs 1:7a
I'm motivated to obey God's Law, because I have knowledge of God's Law and its purpose. That has brought me to love His Law, because I know all His commandments are designed to work for living on this earth and that they are good for me. Yes, it may be true that fear starts a person to obey God's commandments, but when one studies and meditates on the Law and truly gains KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, the person will LOVE the Law, DELIGHT in the Law, and have AWE and REVERENCE for His Creator. The Hebrew word "yir'ah" used in Proverbs 1:7; 9:10, and 111:10 all can mean "fear" or "reverence." Fear of the ETERNAL God is the beginning of knowledge. Those who love instruction will grow in knowledge and will fall in love with God's Law. They will see that it's not a burden but rather a blessing, because where the flesh fails, the blood and intercession of Christ covers. Obedience to God's law brings many blessings, whereas disobedience brings curses (Deuteronomy 28).
What follows are some reasons why I am motivated to obey God's Law:
~Because God wants good for us, just as any good human father wants good for his children:
And the ETERNAL commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the ETERNAL our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. ~ Deut. 6:24
And now, Israel, what doth the ETERNAL thy God require of thee, but to fear the ETERNAL thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the ETERNAL thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the ETERNAL, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? ~Deut. 10:12-13
In that I command thee this day to love the ETERNAL thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the ETERNAL thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. ~Deut. 30:16
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. ~Psalm 119:71, 92
~Because those who obey are blessed:
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the ETERNAL. ~Psalm 119:1
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ~Matt. 5:3-12
~Because the Law is a perfect guide with awesome things to be discovered:
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. ~Psalm 119:18
Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors. ~Psalm 119:24
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. ~Psalm 119:27
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ~Psalm 119:105
~Because the Law gives liberty. It defines our Creator who sets us free from bondage of worshiping useless things other than the One Who created all. It protects the life and well-being of ourselves and others and protects our property and the property of others. It does not forbid healthy and righteous pleasures:
So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. ~Psalm 119:44-48
~Because through obedience we grow in knowledge and understanding so that we love the Law and want to apply it to every moment of our days, it points out how terribly flawed every false way is, and it is necessary for salvation, since those who do not repent and walk as Christ our Savior walked do not receive saving grace:
O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day. ~Psalm 119:97
Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. ~Psalm 119:104
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love. ~Psalm 119:142, 163
Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes. I have longed for thy salvation, O the ETERNAL; and thy law is my delight. ~Psalm 119:155, 174
~Because I hate the bad aspects of the world. I hate death and destruction. I hate those who love death and destruction and delight in their wickedness (Psalm 139:19-24) and long for the day that the innocent will be avenged of their wickedness. I'm deeply sad and mourn over my fellow humans not keeping God's Law:
Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. ~Psalm 119:136
~Because I don't want to be what I've hated in others:
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. ~Ecc. 7:21-22
~Because I want to be a wise and righteous woman:
And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. ~Ecc. 7:26-28
(See also Prov. 31)
~Because this temporary physical life is all in vain if we don't keep the commandments of God and seek something other than time/temporariness in fleshly bodies.
The entire book of Ecclesiastes as a whole and: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. ~Ecc. 12:13-14
~Because there would be no need of so many books and such to have to try to find truth. God's law is the truth. Just not everyone believes it, so we've fiddled with this and that and have to study to find ways to correct the problems:
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. ~Ecc. 12:12
Because in a perfect world, there will be no more having to worry about a wild beast attacking your flock or your chickens, no more having to kill the predators, no more being concerned about blood-sucking animals like ticks and mosquitos, no more cursed thorns on plants, no more parents losing their sweet babies to death after just a short time with them, no more widespread violence, disease, and sexual immorality, no more government taxing your house and land and taking it away from you, no more concern that evil beasts or venomous snakes may bite and attack people's precious children when they are outside playing. Do these things not bring TEARS to you eyes? THIS is what the world will be like when the knowledge of our Father Eternal's ways are spread to everyone on the planet and when people are MOTIVATED to obey His ways. Praise God:
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the ETERNAL, as the waters cover the sea. ~Isaiah 11:6-9
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the ETERNAL, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the ETERNAL. ~Isaiah 65:18-25
~Because I've received abundantly from Him, because I keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight:
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. ~I John 3:22-23
~Because keeping the commandments of God is the love of God:
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. ~I John 5:3
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. ~II John 1:6
~Because, the rewards of those who overcome are magnificent:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. ~Rev. 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. ~Rev. 2:11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. ~Rev. 2:17
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. ~Rev. 2:26-28
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. ~Rev. 3:5
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. ~Rev. 3:12
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. ~Rev. 3:21
~Because we will reign as kings and priests with Christ. He and the saints will inherit co-kingship on the earth, a planet in our Father--the Most High God's--vast empire:
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. ~Rev. 20:6
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. ~Rev. 5:10
But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ~Dan. 7:18
~Because we will be sons of God and will inherit all things. What better thing in the Most High's vast empire is there than to be a literal son of His Majesty. So we can adore Him and say, "I praise you and love that I'm one of your literal sons!" So that I can also love and praise on a lower level my elder brother who loves our Father and made it possible for us to also be sons of the Most High, and no god is as great as He (Ex. 18:11; 2 Chr. 2:5; Psalm 135:5). Of all the spirit beings in this vast universe and all the fleshly (earthly) beings on the earth, what is a better blessing from God than being one of His begotten sons? There is only one thing better. If we overcome and love His way, we will be born as His spirit sons upon our resurrections. The Perfect Genetic Engineer will combine our "filed" energy minds (spirits) with DNA of His Spirit and will provide a perfect energy spirit body to house the perfect mind and power. No physical fuel will ever be needed again to produce energy. We will be full eternal energy (which can "neither be created nor destroyed"). We'll never start running out of energy for depleting our physical fuel storage. We'll never run low on brain power. We will never suffer evil temptations but will be perfect from head to toe and from inside and outside. There will be no law of physics to hold us back. With our Spirit minds and Spirit bodies, we will be able to simply will with our minds to be somewhere else, and it will be done in a blink of an eye. Faster than light, because we will be sons of the Supreme Light, son of the Supreme Energy Being, and if we want to do a million consecutive flips in the air, we will be able to do so without tiring or becoming injured or dying. If we wish to fly or drive at high speeds, we will be able to do so and enjoy it:
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. ~Rev. 21:7
~Because I can see and feel God's love and have evidence of the awesome gifts He has given us on a physical level. We can only begin to imagine what He can give to us on a spiritual level. We can only imagine how awesome life will be living in perfection in a perfect society among angels, spirit animals, spirit plants, spirit worlds, fellow Spirit children of God, including our Lord and Savior, and most exciting being able to SEE the One Who begot us and Who created all things. As physical creatures, it would kill us to see Him in His full glory--the light, the heat, the AWESOME, OVERPOWERING ENERGY would totally CONSUME us into a vapor. But, if we are born (not created) of Him, we will be like He is. On a physical level as an analogy, our embryos cannot see us until they are born, and it would be impossible--it would kill them. We are begotten now and are like our Father to an extent (like embryos are like their parents to an extent), but we are not yet born. ust as a begotten human embryo cannot yet see his father, we cannot yet see ours. A fetus can hear his father's voice. I can hear my Father's voice. I long for the day I can SEE His Face, the One Who is so Perfect, Loving, Merciful, and Powerful. I do NOT want to spontaneously abort. I want to endure unto the end, keep up the good fight, finish the race, and receive my rewards. All this is motivation to obey:
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. ~ I Cor. 2:9-16
~Because I truly have the mind of Christ (a mind of a son of God), and so I don't obey the Lw of God for earthly men in order to simply avoid the penalties (and the ultimate penalty) of transgression. I do it because I LOVE it. It's not a burden, like the laws of men. It is not liberty-stripping, like the laws of men. It's not unjust, like the laws of men. It's the Law of Liberty. Our great Israelite nation was supposed to be a nation of liberty based on the Ten Commandments, but we're going farther and farther away from that law, and the nation is becoming less and less a nation of liberty. We're SICK! We get more foolish and wicked and unjust. And the more so our we become, the more we also have our liberties stripped away with all the unjust statutes, our time stripped away with all the things we have to keep up with, and al our money stripped away as we have to pay ridiculously insane taxes, permit/license fees, fines, etc. We also have more disease, crappy crops, an atrocious food supply, infertility and miscarriage, and on and on. I'm deeply disgusted at the abominations our people have allowed. I WISH everyone loved God's Law for us and would follow it. I WISH people were not blinded and deceived! I wish it didn't take a penalty to cause people to obey. I wish everyone would obey because they know how good it is for them to and know how much God loves us and wants all people to become His literal children:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. ~Hosea 4:6
Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the ETERNAL thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee. ~Deut. 28:45
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the ETERNAL thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. ~Deut. 28:15