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Admonitions And Incentive

Why do we need to obey commandments from God? Most importantly, because God, as creator of heaven and earth, has the right to require certain things of His creation. In spite of our attitude toward God, no man has the right to question his authority over his creation (Rom. 9:20,21). But, even though He has the right to issue commands, and punish those who disobey them, God still provides incentives for obedience. The following list provides some of them.

That thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest: After Moses death, God commanded Joshua "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel" (Jos.1:2). He further said "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua was responsible for leading Israel in the conquest of Canaan, but success was an incentive for obedience. Would he have been successful if he had not followed the law? We all want to be successful in life. If your conquests seem to be failing, you may need to check your obedience to God's law, the New Testament. False service brings no reward (Mt. 7:21).

“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” God has always demanded that children honor their parents. The above quote is from Ephesians 6:3, but a similar statement can be found in Deuteronomy 5:16. Obviously God places a great importance on family. The bible contains instructions for all members of the family, specifying individual obligations for each member. Even the church is often likened to a family, being used as an illustration for certain teachings. Yes, we should naturally love our parents, but an incentive is also supplied to encourage us. That incentive is "that it may be well with you" and "live long on the earth". We know that a happy family life, where children respect and honor their parents, and other commandments concerning family are obeyed has it's rewards. Fighting families bring no happiness. "A wise son heeds his father's instruction,but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" and "A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother". (Prov. 13:1, 15:20).

God offers us rewards for our obedience. We do not deserve them, nor have we earned anything. We have many incentives to encourage obedience, but if we ignore them, and go our own way, punishment will certainly follow.