Have you ever considered why there’s so much evil in the world? Crimes of all sorts; child neglect and abuse, bullying, ungodly and unconstitutional laws – people hurting people for no other reason than because they have the power to do so. God has given you a free will. And with that free will, the choice is yours:
- To do right or do wrong
- To love or to hate
- To play or to work
- To obey or to rebel
- To worship God or to reject Him as Savior
We live in a day and age where people don’t like anyone telling them what to do – not their boss, not the law, not their parents, and especially not God. So to justify ungodly decisions, they usually hold the viewpoint that “truth is relative.” That means that each person determines what truth means to them, and that’s the standard they live by.
By maintaining that philosophy, they can discount the greatest Book of Truth ever written – the Bible. But according to the Bible, truth is not relative; it’s absolute. God doesn’t change. Therefore, His truth doesn’t change. And in His Book of Truth (otherwise known as the Bible) He instructs us how to be saved, how to live righteously, how to love others, how to forgive, etc.
God’s Word is the ultimate authority, but people don’t want to obey it, because to obey God’s Word would require sacrifice. They would have to relinquish themselves to a higher calling – doing God’s will, not their own will; obeying God’s rules, not yielding to their fleshly desires. God’s Word is narrow; it’s very restricting and people want freedom.
- Freedom to do as they please – even if it’s harmful to themselves or others.
- Freedom to go where they want – even if it’ll get them into trouble.
- Freedom to be what they want – even if it’s ungodly.
- Freedom to control others – especially in a cruel way.
God has given each person a free will, which means we all have the freedom to choose whether or not to obey Him. And to obey God’s Word is to obey God.
I John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
That means, to keep God’s commandments will not cause us any grief or suffering. And although we don’t always understand it, God’s commandments are always for our benefit. Even Jesus learned to obey His Father.
Hebrews 5:8 says, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
And Philippians 2:8 tells us, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Jesus did not die on the cross for His benefit, but for ours.
Acts 5:29 says, “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
People who choose to obey God cease to contribute to the evil in the world. They bless those around them with God’s mercy and goodness.