God Smiles When We Obey

by Rick Warren

“Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” Genesis 6:22 (NLT)

If God asked you to build a giant boat, do you think you might have a few questions, objections, and reservations? Noah didn’t. He obeyed God wholeheartedly and built a huge boat even though the world had never seen rain.

Obedience means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. You don’t procrastinate and say, “I’ll pray about it.” You do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience.

Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. ‘I’ll attend church but I won’t tithe.’ ‘I’ll read my Bible but I won’t forgive the person who hurt me.’ Yet partial obedience is disobedience.

Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully with enthusiasm. The Bible says, “Obey him gladly” (Psalm 100:2 LB). This is the attitude of David: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey” (Psalm 119:33 LB).

James, speaking to Christians, said, “We please God by what we do and not only by what we believe” (James 2:24 CEV). God’s Word is clear that you can’t earn your salvation. It comes only by grace, not your effort. You can bring pleasure to your heavenly Father through obedience.