Life Walk Lesson 103: Reasons to Obey God
When Jesus, the Son of God the Father came, He came with grace and truth [John 1] and His hands filled with blessings. He taught us how to live faithfully and in obedience to God. He also made clear the consequences for not being in a personal relationship with God as we shall see.
Matthew 5:1-12
1 “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.
2 Then He began to teach them, saying,
3 “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
4 “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].
5 “Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.
7 “Blessed [content, sheltered by God’s promises] are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God.
9 “Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.
10 “Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
11 “Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me.
12 Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
John 15:1-11
1 “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you].
4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.
5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.
8 My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.
9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you].
10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.”
James 1:5-8
5 “If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.
7 For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].”
We find the heart of God for His children in Psalm 14:2, where King David declares:
“The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand [act wisely], who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].”
Now, let’s see how God looks at His Investment in us, for He has entrusted us with His very Own possessions, His Earth and everything in it, and has given us dominion over the animal kingdoms. [Genesis 1:26; Revelation 11:18].
Matthew 25:14-30 The Parable of the Talents
14 “For it is just like a man who was about to take a journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his possessions.
15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and then he went on his journey.
16 The one who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he [made a profit and] gained five more.
17 Likewise the one who had two [made a profit and] gained two more. 18 But the one who had received the one went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
20 And the one who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted to me five talents. See, I have [made a profit and] gained five more talents.’
21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, {note: His possessions} I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’
22 “Also the one who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have [made a profit and] gained two more talents.’
23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’
24 “The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
25 So I was afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is your own.’
26 “But his master answered him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap [the harvest] where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed.
27 Then you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and at my return I would have received my money back with interest.
28 So take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “For to everyone who has [and values his blessings and gifts from God, and has used them wisely], more will be given, and [he will be richly supplied so that] he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have [because he has ignored or disregarded his blessings and gifts from God], even what he does have will be taken away.
30 And throw out the worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place [of grief and torment] there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].”
Disobedience to God Equates us with the Earth-Destroyers
Revelation 11:18
“And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”
The Successful Investment of God’s Word in Us
Isaiah 55:9-11
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bear and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me void (useless, without result), without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
God goes on to inform Isaiah what His thoughts about His children are, in verses 12-13 [AMP]
12 “For you will go out [from exile] with joy and be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress tree will grow, and instead of the nettle the myrtle tree will grow; and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign [of His mercy] which will not be cut off.”
By contrast, sin causes the ground not to yield to the sower, as we see in the example of what happened when the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, Cain, sinned against his brother Able, by murdering him.
Genesis 4:11-13
11 “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.
12 When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”
God, in this parable, is the Sower. It takes a yielded, receptive, and loving heart [metaphorically, the soil in which He plants His Word] to grow in grace, knowledge, and stature with God, as He desires for us to do. God wants better for us than the life-consuming nature of sin and separation from God’s love.
Let’s look at this parable in the light of the verses in Isaiah 55 which we have just read, where God desires the best outcomes, and good things for us:
Matthew 13:1-17 The Parable of the Sower
1 “That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea [of Galilee].
2 But such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there [positioning Himself as a teacher], while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3 He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field];
4 and as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road [between the fields], and the birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil.
6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out.
8 Other seed fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much [as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.
9 He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.”
10 Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?”
11 Jesus replied to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12 For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].
14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;
And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;
15 For this nation’s heart has grown hard, and with their ears they hardly hear, and they have [tightly] closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn [to Me] and I would heal them [spiritually].’
16 But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
17 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
The first thing I learn about God from this Parable, is that He is not only a Generous Sower, but He scatters the seed everywhere He goes, without regard to the soil, expecting good outcomes from it [His children]. He just expects the seeds to grow. He expects a fruitful harvest which will nourish others and bring healing to the nations.
Ezekiel 47:12
12 “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They shall bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”
However, we also find in Scripture that a person without an ongoing, personal, and intimate relationship with God ends up lukewarm, and useless to God.
Revelation 3:16
“So because you are lukewarm [spiritually useless], and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [reject you with disgust].”
A person with an ongoing, personal and intimate relationship with God has everything they need to be successful and give God a good return on His investment in them.
2Corinthians 9:10
“Now He Who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing [that is, your resources] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [which shows itself in active goodness, kindness, and love].”
God invests in us, providing everything we need to walk as Jesus walked in the earth.
1John 2:6
“whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.”
Acts 10:38
“…and He went around doing good [philanthropy] and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.”
The Reward for Obeying God
When we walk as Jesus walked in the earth, just as He set the example for us, we will have the same outcomes Jesus had, and obtain the same rewards from His Father as He received.
We have learned, in the previous Life Walk Bible Lessons, that God judges justly, based on how we have loved Him, by taking care of one another, how we have taken care of His creation, and how we have taken care of the earth itself.
We have learned about God’s investment in the believer. Now let’s look at the outcomes and rewards of that investment.
Matthew 25:31-46 The Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him [for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right [the place of honor], and the goats on His left [the place of rejection].
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’
37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’
41 “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons);
42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care].’
44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45 Then He will reply to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these [my followers], you did not do it for Me.’
46 Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right standing with God [will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending) life.”
