Obey And Be Blessed

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝟒:𝟏𝟐-𝟐𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟗𝟕: 𝟏-𝟐, 𝟓-𝟔, 𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟐: “𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟕-𝟐𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.28) 

         While Jesus was explaining to the crowd that men must fill their hearts with all that is good to keep the evil spirits out, a woman from among the crowd said “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (𝒗.27) If this happened to us and somebody tells us how good our mother is, the natural tendency is for us to accept the compliment and feel elated that someone recognizes what our mother did for us.

        We will carry such compliments with us because it is reflective of what we have become on account of our mother’s labor and the more we become appreciative of the toil our mother have to experience to raise us.

         But Jesus was not drawn to such praises even if it was directed towards his own mother and his response was something that we need to ponder on in relation to the teaching that lie hidden in the parable in the previous Gospel passage.

         His response has all the makings of an admonition for all of us because it gives us a purview of what we can expect if we are to follow not only his teachings but more so the very Word of God (𝐯.𝟐𝟖). Because as far as Jesus was concerned, he regards obedience as a virtue with a higher value than anything else and this was evident in his response: “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.28)

         What Jesus was saying was that he already knew his mother was blessed but not because of the way she raised him up but because of her obedience to what the Lord told her to do: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅’𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.” (𝑳𝒌 1:38)

         The key to our being blessed therefore is the level of obedience that we have in relation to how the Word of God rests in our ears. Hence, it can be said that if we hear the Word of God being spoken to us and not do anything about it, we can expect nothing from our God.

         Like Mary his mother, Jesus is telling us in this Gospel passage, short it may be, that we too stand to be blessed by God if we will only listen and obey what God wills.

         As with the other gifts that God gives his people, to be blessed is premised on our disposition to share this same blessing to others. Mary obeyed when she heard the Word of God being said to her by the angel Gabriel and she responded positively and obeyed and she was blessed with the opportunity to carry in her womb the Lamb of God who will become the Savior of the world.

         Mary was blessed and in turn she shared this blessing to others and not for once did Mary hold back. She could have but she didn’t because she knew that this was part of the plan of God to bless the world. 

         Jesus in this Gospel is telling us that we have no choice but to listen and obey God through his written Word of God because we were created to be united with God. Our Lord is telling us that those who follow Jesus Christ and whose lives conform to the Will of God become part of God’s own family. This is the blessing that we will receive that we also are required to share with others.

         I remember a time when I was growing up in the Community when I somewhat got tired as I experienced what is commonly referred to as spiritual burnout. This happens when we are not aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives because it is the Holy Spirit that propels us to do and understand things beyond our imagination.

         I filed a leave and from the Teaching Ministry and while I attended Corporate Worship regularly, I did not accept assignments unaware that our spiritual muscles are actually being developed in the mission field. One time while I was reading my Bible, the Holy Spirit led me to Paul’s letter, and I almost fell off my chair when I started reading the passage which says: “𝑫𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.” (𝑷𝒉𝒊 2:14)        

         I cut short my leave, and I went back to serving the Community and for the past 39 years up to the time my spouse Malou was called by our Lord to her heavenly home, I have never grown tired, complained or grumbled and I accepted every assignment anywhere, whenever and wherever even if I it was inconvenient. I heard and I obeyed, and I have been blessed and continue to be blessed.

         Obedience is a very important component of the salvation that God is offering to us and obeying God is in our best interest. God has called on us to keep his commands, and he assures us that his laws are not hidden from us or beyond the reach of our human understanding.

         And if we are to apply this virtue in the context of the church, obedience should not be directed only at the source of Grace but also to those who exercise pastoral authority over us in the church ministry or community that we belong to.

         It would be the height of hypocrisy to say we obey God and yet not obey those who represent his authority on the ground where we operate. Worst is when the leaders themselves become the source of disunity and discord on account of their disobedient nature towards their pastoral heads especially when these leaders have become bigger than the God they serve without their knowing it.

         When faced with doubt or uncertainty, the best way to get back on track is to reflect on the assurance of Jesus Christ when he said: “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.28)

         To be blessed gives us the inspiration to do even more and Jesus again assures us that “𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.” (𝑴𝒕 5:19)        

         Certainly, the reward for obedience far outweighs the difficulties we may face in doing so but the most difficult part of obeying God’s laws is simply deciding to start now. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 11, 2025)