When I think of God many times I think of him in the role of a parent, a real father – not just our spiritual Father.  Anyone who is a parent has their list of clichés and rules they exercise on a regular basis.  One example is “Just do what I tell you”.  In this new age of parenting, for some that works well yet for others it goes over like a lead balloon.  Children nowadays need an answer to their “why” questions before they will respond to their parents instructions.  I am not here to say whether that is good or bad, right or wrong.  Every parent has the right to raise their child as they see fit.  However I’m not writing about a parenting style today, but rather how we should respond to our heavenly Father.

I believe that anyone who has a relationship with God has an ear that can be trained to hear His voice.  What is involved in that training process?   It all begins with reading God’s word, doing all you can to live by it, and listening to His voice for further instruction.  As a parent we tell our children things in order for them to have the best life possible.  Our heavenly Father wants the same for us in an even greater way.  He wants us to have the best life we can here on earth, but even more importantly He wants us to live eternally with Him in heaven.  So although we may not understand everything we hear from Him it is in our best interest to heed His words and obey!  No good parent would ever put their child in harm’s way and give them instructions to do something that would hurt them.  But children are often not mature enough to decipher parental guidance from an adult perspective.  Their tunnel vision only views restrictions from a standpoint of limitations and punishments.  

It’s the mature mind that understands that instantaneous satisfaction often leads to future disappointment.  Unfortunately there is not a logical explanation for every word of instruction or advice that is given.  As parents we can do our best to explain our words, but when you really think about it why should we have to!  God is not obligated to given us reasons why He says “no”, “wait”, “that’s not what I want for you”, “this is how you are to do this”, “this is where I want you to go”.   When we hear these words from God it is in our best interest NOT to overrule Him, or try to rationalize the situation to transform the voice of His instruction into what we want to hear.

How often do we push the limits of rules, laws, parameters, etc?   The speed limit is 65, but we push it to 70 just because we want to go faster. Church service begins at 10:00 A.M., but we consistently arrive at 10:30 because we don’t want to get up early enough to get there on time. We continue in a relationship that has signaled red flags since the beginning, but we’d rather pursue it than be alone.

Life is full of regulations and directions, but because we’re “grownups” we feel like we have the right to adhere or not.  In view of that fact, we should also be grown enough to accept the consequences!  Maybe I’m not much of a risk taker but I would rather “just do what He tells me”.  The old folks put it this way, “I’d rather be safe than sorry”.  In closing here is what the word of God says:

“And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord,
and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every
work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the
fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for
the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good,
and he rejoiced over thy fathers:
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD
thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes
which are written in this book of the law, and
if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul.
For this commandment which I command thee this day,
is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.”
Deuteronomy 30: 8 – 11