Obedience is spoken about all throughout God’s word. In Deuteronomy, God told His people, “If you obey me you shall be blessed.” Children are commanded to obey their parents; citizens are to obey civil authority; employees are to obey their employers. So why do we so often find it hard to obey? Can’t we just “do our own thing” as long as it is “good”?

Jesus answers this question in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” The motive of true obedience must be love if we want to truly please God—love for our Father, our Creator, our Savior. Just as a child desires to please their parents through obedience, so we, as children of God, must desire to please God through our obedience to His ways. To love someone is to please them, to set aside my wants to fulfill theirs. Love is not stubborn—it is flexible; love listens—it does not argue; love waits—it is not impatient; love obeys—it is not willful.

Jesus tells us in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow Me.” Ladies, that should be a picture of you and me knowing our Shepherd and listening to His call. Obedience is not hard for sheep; neither should it be to us, His sheep. A woman desiring obedience knows the voice of her Master; she trusts Him to care for and love her. She knows she is weak and trusts in the Master’s strength. Sheep quickly come to the shepherd knowing that is where food, shelter, and safety are. Sheep will not listen to a stranger—they don’t know his voice.

Where are you today? Have you started to listen to “strangers,” or are you loving your Shepherd by following His ways? Have you traded your first love for desires of the flesh? If so, turn your love and heart back to the “Good Shepherd.” Show the world your love to the One who is Love, Jesus Christ, by obeying His ways.