Day 180, Year 1

Obeying or Abandoning God’s Commands?

“For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” (2 Peter 2:21 NKJV)

“Commandment” in today’s verse is entole in Greek, which also means “precept, command, or order,” including the moral commandments in the Old Testament, or the orders to establish the priestly office, etc. For believers who receive salvation according to the Lord Jesus’ new covenant, we must accept and obey His holy commandments so as to walk in His righteous path. After accepting His holy commands, we can begin our new covenant service as priests to lead nonbelievers to Jesus.

Some people have heard the voice of Jesus and even opened their doors for Him, but then regret it. As mentioned previously, some people might have opened their doors for Jesus, but not only did they fail to make Him their only Lord, they even asked Jesus to go away from them afterward. This might be a situation of opening the door and closing it again. According to today’s verse, those who had believed Jesus but then abandoned the faith are well aware that they have discarded His commands. For such people, it would have been better if they had not known Jesus. Actually, many people find it difficult and struggle to obey His commands.

First, believers must deal with harmful “arguments and high things,” as mentioned in the previous devotionals. For some people, demolishing the “high things” in their hearts is a test of endurance. This is because the worldly culture, values, and habits that are hostile to God are often so entrenched that many people are likely to fall back on their old unbelieving way of living automatically. To change these automacies, we need a lot of “pause and think,” and ask “why” so as to critically examine the thoughts and habits we have always taken for granted. Then, we should refer to the biblical teachings and remove one by one all harmful habits, replacing them with new, biblical, and godly habits.

Second, for many, God’s commands or instructions are often found difficult. This is to test how assertive we believe in God, and how thoroughly we esteem Jesus as our only Lord. From another perspective, these challenging commands are to encourage us to rely on His help, serving as a driving force for us to trust Him more. This is because if we can obey God’s commands all on our own, we are likely to become proud. When we struggle to obey His commands, we should never give up due to immediate hardship. Instead, we need to take some time and reflect regularly on how to rely on Him to overcome every difficulty.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you think that “pause and think” and asking “why” can help you deal with the “high things and wrong arguments” within you? Why?

2) Do you find it difficult to obey God’s commands? If so, do you have the determination and endurance to overcome them one by one with Jesus’ help?