Obedience at a Cost

In John 9, we find a story of a man who was blind from birth. The scriptures do not show that this man came to Jesus or even asked Jesus for help. The story begins with the disciples asking Jesus why the man was born blind. Who had sinned? Who had caused the man to be blind?

Jesus explained that neither the man nor his parents had sinned, but that it happened so He could display His Father’s works.  After saying this, He bent down, spit in the mud, and made a poultice to cover the man’s eyes. Then He told the man, “Go wash in the pool of Siloan” (John 9:7). 

The man did as Jesus said, and his obedience was rewarded. His sight was received. Because of his blessing, he rejoiced and told how he had received his sight. The blind man was a Jew, and his friends told the Pharisees of the miracle. The Pharisees not only denied that Jesus was of God, but they also cast the man out of the synagogue. But the man continued to believe in Jesus. When Jesus heard he had been cast out, He went to him. The man believed in Him and worshipped Him.

The man’s obedience and belief in Jesus cost him his place in the synagogue. But it gained him a seat at the feet of the Father.

But what did the man do to obey? “Go wash in the pool" (John 9:7). Was this action required to heal the man? No. Jesus healed the man before He even put the mud on his eyes. The mud didn’t heal him, the washing didn’t heal him, and the water didn’t heal him. Jesus healed him.

But Jesus required something from the man, from us, in return. First, He requires that we have faith and believe. We must believe He is the Son of God and have faith in Him to provide and to heal.

Second, He requires obedience. Just as our earthly fathers want us to obey, Jesus wants us to obey Him. The man did not question Jesus’ instructions. No, he just obeyed. 

God expects us to obey as well. And when we do, we will be blessed.

Throughout the Bible, stories show the cost of obedience. 

We have all heard the story of King Nebuchadnezzar and his golden image. In Daniel Chapter 2, Daniel interpreted the king’s dream. In Chapter 3, the king had a golden statue built and placed in the plain of Dura. He then gathered all the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and rulers for the dedication. At the dedication, he declared that when the music played throughout the land, all were to fall down and worship the image. If anyone didn’t, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship any of the gods of Nebuchadnezzar or his golden image. They chose to worship God and obey his commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods than Me” (Exodus 20:3). This made Nebuchadnezzar angry, and he had the three men thrown into the fiery furnace. The flames were so hot that the men who threw them in were killed. But when the king looked into the fire, he saw the three men and another like “the Son of God".

Their obedience to God cost them their positions in the king’s service, but God blessed them. Their obedience saved them as God sent His angel to protect them in the flames. 

In Daniel 6, we see that Daniel had risen to power in King Darius’ court. He was preferred because of his excellent spirit. The others in the court were jealous of him.  They got together and went to the king with a proposal. In honor of the king, they wished to establish a decree that if anyone prayed to any gods or man other than the king for thirty days, they would be thrown into the lions' den. This was their way of getting rid of Daniel, because they knew that every day Daniel prayed to God. 

After the decree was made, the men went to find him while he prayed. They then went and told the king. Now, King Darius cared greatly for Daniel, and his heart was so broken that he would have to follow his decree and have his friend thrown in among the lions.

The cost of Darius’ and Daniel’s obedience was Daniel being thrown into the Lion’s den. But the next morning, when the king went to the lion’s den distraught over his friend, he found Daniel unharmed. And Daniel told him how God had sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions.

No one on earth knows the true cost of obedience better than Christ. Alone in the garden, Jesus prayed to His Father, “Take this cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine” (Mark 14:36). And in obedience, He rose and went forth to be arrested. His obedience cost Him humiliation as He was cursed and spit upon. His obedience cost Him unbelievable pain as he was whipped and crucified. But the greatest pain was when His Father turned His eyes away as He took all the sins of the world upon Himself and died for us. 

But three days later, He arose victorious over death with the keys of Hell (Rev 1:18). And 40 days later, He ascended into the Heavens (Acts 1:9) to reign with His Father. And He has gone to prepare a place for us. And if we obey and believe in God and Jesus as His Son, He will come back and take us, that we may be with him also (John 14:1-3). For God has adopted us, so we may be called the Children of God (John 3:1). All Jesus asks is, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24).

What a reward for obedience!