Spanning the distance between knowing the right thing to doing the right thing is not easy. In fact, there can be a threshold we come up against where the more we know, the more we are held accountable (see James 4:17, for example).
So why should we obey? Is obedience merely an end in itself? Do we obey simply because God says so? Or, is there some other reason to obey? Sure we should do what our heavenly Father tells us because “Father knows best.” But, does obedience have some design built into it such that there are reasons to obey? Does obedient living have some τέλος (goal, target, destination, termination point) built into it?
Consider Deuteronomy 30:11-20:
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 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. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God insists not only that he has made himself clear and his commands accessible (vv. 11-14), but that blessing is tied to obedience. Not only does he ensure life, but God promises prosperity. [Although the latter has some idea of material advantage (“the land you are entering to possess”), that is not the entire range of what it means to be prosperous, since loving God and increasing in number is grouped along with the land.] Thus, obedience is linked to something beyond itself. It’s linked to blessing. It (blessing) is the aim or the τέλος toward which obedience is moving. In a word: “We obey because it’s good for us!”
Consider also Aristotle who understood this principle of τέλος about human nature. All actions but one claims Aristotle, aim at some greater goal or purpose. For example, I used to tell my students:
- Education aims at a better paying job.
- Better paying jobs aim at financial security.
- Financial security aims at peace of mind.
- Peace of mind aims at happiness.
- Thus, we get an education to achieve happiness.
He writes “No one chooses happiness for the sake of honor, pleasure, and the like, nor as a means to anything at all….We see then that happiness is something final and self-sufficient and the end of our actions” (Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics). We don’t just wake up courageous people; we need opportunities to exercise courage. We don’t just flip a switch and become compassionate people; we need challenges to show compassion.
Now consider the seventh commandment “You shall not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18). It’s not as though I should simply obey and be faithful to my wife because God says so (though that is partially true because it’s God commanding), but that being faithful to my wife is good for me (and for her). It brings blessing to our relationship in ways that only pure devotion to one another can. Husbands and wives, do you want a solid, rewarding, and fulfilling relationship with one another? Then commit exclusively to one another in body and soul; in private and in public. This and only this brings blessing says the Lord your God.
Okay. So why obey? Because it brings blessing. I got that. But, how and when the blessings of obedience manifest is not up to me and this is where I struggle. My faith is weak; very weak here. I obey and expect results. And, I’m convinced that it’s not wrong to expect results because God says they will come. While I “know” that God can and even will turn around events that stretch us (Romans 8:28), embracing that knowledge in my heart is where the crux and the crucible are centered. Again, I really don’t believe it’s wrong to expect a blessing from obedient living, just as it’s not wrong to expect growth in being an honest person when I tell the truth repeatedly. But it is wrong to expect blessings to look a certain way or show up at a certain time.
I’m reminded that Jesus provides the perfect example to follow since “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Obedience was the goal, suffering the means. And it does not stop at obedience because of the “joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2), which gives me a reason to “consider it pure joy” in trials (James 1:2).
I don’t know about you but for me, knowing that acts of obedience are gradually yet certainly yielding something of eternal significance changes the task of obedient living from a burden into a glorious opportunity for blessing. Though the blessings may be delayed, they will surely come.