“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
In the garden of Eden, a place of pleasure, a place of abundance, a place of intimacy with God, Adam disobeyed.
In the garden of Gethsemane, a place of pain, a place of sorrow, a place of suffering where before Him was the weight of the sins of the world and rejection from God, Jesus obeyed.
The Bible says in Hebrews 5:8 that although Jesus was the Son of God, He learnt obedience by what He suffered. And that was what pleased God. We can only grow spiritually by obeying God’s Word whatever life brings – whether it is trial or blessing.
Obedience is not the easiest choice – but it’s the best! Temptation is the presentation of evil, the opportunity to temporary pleasure rather than permanent gain. Obeying God at first seems hard until we come to realise that all He asks is for our good, to make life full and free.
What are you facing in your life? In the garden of decision, will you choose to obey God or to disobey Him?
In the words of God in the mouth of Joshua, ‘choose obedience, choose life’.
