Riley Girl and Loving Obedience

Leviticus 16:34 ...And Moses did as the Lord commanded him


My Riley Girl is a 12 year old chocolate lab, who is as patient and sweet as they come. She still jumps around and wags her tail with excitement every time I enter the house. It is always good to greeted with such love and honor. In the early morning during my quiet time, she accompanies me and my coffee into the den to read and pray. On more than one occasion during these quiet times, God has shown me the simple beauty of Riley's desire to be in my presence and her desire to be obedient to me. In a weird sounding way, Riley has modeled how I should interact with my Lord and Savior, Jesus. God has shown me the beauty of simple and constant obedience and a desire for His presence are the truest markers of a Christ follower. Why? It shows a commitment to bring Him honor and glory! Before you think I have lost my mind, stop and really think through the picture of obedience and desire for closeness. With every wag of the tail and every rub against my leg, Riley is showing how glad she is to be Mine.


The partial verse from Leviticus 16 above seems easy to pass over at first sight. When read in context, it almost seems like an after thought. It appears over and over, as Moses obediently carried out the will of God. Throughout the OT the patriarchs and prophets were exceedingly obedient. Check out Hebrews 11 and you will not find anyone with a semi casual, lukewarm obedient heart in the "Hall of Faith". In the new testament we see Jesus being obedient to death. We see the faithful disciples with an intense obedience as well. Why? They were so amazed at God that following Him was the only logical choice. Go check out what Jesus says in John 14. He basically equates faith and obedience by linking them together four distinct times saying "if you love me, you will obey my commands". With a God centered perspective, and an audit of Jesus model set before us, we can easily see that obedience to God's will brings Him glory, as we gladly share Christ with others. He is not a genie in a bottle that immediately fixes everything, but rather a loving God that draws us near to HIM by His grace as He shows His strength through our trials to our souls and the world who is watching.

I do believe that the devil wants us to see obedience to God as misery, the way we would view a musty dungeon with chains. The truth is that obedience in Him, by Faith in Him, is the only way to escape that dungeon and those chains.

So how do you look at obedience to God? Is it a chore or a privilege?

Do you desire closeness with Him?
Do you understand what a Joy it is to be HIS?

We don't have tails to wag, but we have hearts that can leap. I pray that mine leaps to be in His presence and at the chance to be obedient.