Obeying God’s revealed will is evidence that we love Him. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…” I was thinking back to my childhood. I obeyed because I had, but my heart was not in it.

Are you a people pleaser? I was thinking about this as I fixed breakfast. If a parent does not win the heart of their child, then they are set up to be people pleasers. Like the little child and his father at the dinner table. “Johnny sit down.” He stubbornly refused. “Johnny I said to sit down.” He continued to stand. The father stood up, and Johnny said, “I’m sitting down but I’m standing up inside.”

The Lord is after heart obedience in His children. His commands are not options. They are specific instructions that will lead us along His paths of righteousness. Our progressive sanctification journey is one of learning to heed what the Lord says to do.

King Saul disobeyed. 1 Samuel 15:23 says, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…”