"I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies. Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed Me."
Obedience means to believe and to wait. We often talk about obedience in the church. Obedience is probably something which is the most complex and poorly understood. What does it mean to obey God?

We can see the man Abraham from the Bible as a great example of a man who had obedience to God. Some Christians explain that the uniqueness of Abraham was because of God's choice. In other words, God chose him and that is why he was special. But this is not true. People who think or explain this way aim at defending or justifying human laziness.

The Word of God clearly teaches that Abraham simply obeyed God in a situation where normally no one would obey. Obedience is required only when we see a conflict between God's will and our own desire or between God's will and even our own needs. In other words, sometimes we need to obey when we are going to do something that God does not want or when God commands us to do something that we don't want to do.

I think that obedience means to believe and to wait - to believe in God's promises and to trust Him, to wait for God. These are just words that come from the heart of a person who knows God. To obey the Lord Jesus means to accept every situation from God and to glorify only Him. Obedience to God has special power, special blessings in it. As God's faithful children, we obey Him even if we are about to cross the road of death.

In 44 days of terrible wartime in 2020, I learned to wait on God and obey Him. When I was going to the front line, there were many guys in the truck. We were going at night with the lights off. When we were near the front line, slowly two or three people were getting down to different places. And the more we drove, the more the boys started hurrying to get down, because they realized that the farther we went, the more difficult the way back would be. Suddenly I wanted to take a step, but I could not. I realized that God did not want me to get down early, as if He was saying, "Don't worry, I have prepared a better place for you."

When I reached my place, it became clear that it was the worst place, the most dangerous, and there had already been seven victims a day before. I did not understand why God brought me there, but I also had no choice. But God kept me and taught me to obey Him. God not only saved me, but together with me, He saved about sixty guys there. Only at the end did I realize that God had led me there to save those boys, and I was just a tool in His mighty hands.

When we obey God, we allow Him to fulfill His plans in our lives and, more importantly, in the lives of others.

Let us obey the Lord and He will say to us also, "the nations will be blessed though you, because you heard my voice and obeyed me."

By Pastor Arman Gevorgyan, Bible League International staff, ArmeniaOld Testament Reading
Isaiah 1, 2, 3

Isaiah 1 -- Israel's Rebellion and Zion's Corruption

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB

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Isaiah 2 -- The Coming of God's Kingdom and a Day of Judgment

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB

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Isaiah 3 -- Judgment on Leaders, the Wicked, and Judah's Women

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB

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New Testament Reading
Galatians 2

Galatians 2 -- Paul at Jerusalem; Dispute with Peter

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB

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Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.