Is Obedience Restrictive or Freeing? - By Kingdom Keys

Have you ever thought that God was too restrictive?  Are you one of those who believe that obedience isn’t all that important because God’s grace is so great and magnificent that it automatically covers you?  Has it occurred to you that God knows more than you do about life and how to experience the highest level of joy and fulfillment?  

    God is loving and doesn’t put restrictions on us to harm us or to take our fun away.  When He says, “Thou shalt not”, it is not because He wants to keep us from enjoyment.  It is because He knows the blessings of life are greatest to those who regard the restrictions.

    Learn a lesson from a dog.  Pepper was one of Jeremy’s dogs.  She had a sweet personality and brought joy to those of us who were familiar with her.  When she got in the way of Jeremy’s vehicle as he pulled into his garage recently and ended up losing an eye, we went to great effort to save her.  No cops were around to pull us over as we rushed at a high speed to the emergency animal hospital to get help for her.  After that, she was even more dear to Jeremy and to me, even though she wasn’t my dog.

    About 2 or 3 weeks ago, Jeremy decided to keep two of his dogs in the back yard of the radio station.  One of those was Pepper.  I gave him a dog house that I had which was large enough to provide shelter for both dogs.  Pepper kept digging out of the yard.  We repeatedly put more and more boards and cinder blocks along the fence to restrain her.  Although she wasn’t a large dog, she was able to move a single cinder block.  So, we had to put double cinder blocks, or blocks and other hindrances together to keep her in.  

    I can’t read a dog’s mind to know exactly what the creature thinks, but evidently she thought we were too restrictive.  I guess she didn’t know how much we enjoyed her, and that we were restraining her so that she could live a full and happy life.  She could have given us the satisfaction of loving on her and enjoying her unique traits for several more years.  But, she wasn’t content to remain within the boundaries.  She must have thought she knew best.  When we found her mangled body down the road a little ways from the radio station, where she had been run over several times, I thought I had failed to place enough cinder blocks.  However, after Jeremy retrieved her body from the road and went to the back yard to bury her, we saw that she had chewed two planks from the wooden gate into numerous pieces allowing her to get out.

    I realize she is “just a dog”, as people are ready to help you remember.  But, it’s not easy to give up a dog that you love.  I’m a very happy person full of the joy of the Lord, but the past couple of days have been quite sad for me as I keep thinking about how much I enjoyed the little dog, growing especially fond of her after the loss of her eye.  I would talk to her and tell her how thankful we were that she wasn’t injured worse and that her other eye was okay.  (The doctor had told us on the night of the first accident that the other eye might not be okay, but we prayed for her and all was fine.)  She didn’t understand me telling her about it, but she wagged her tail anyway.

    Why did I tell you this story?  I am hopeful that a little dog’s death can serve as an illustration of how important it is to obey God and never rebel against him.  He really does know best.  When He puts a restraint on you, accept it with joy knowing that it is for your best good.  How much more joy can you bring to Him if you will simply submit to His commands.  Psalm 112:1 says “Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.”

    Sometimes, people get excited and delighted thinking about God’s promises.  But, the person that is blessed is not the one who only delights in His promises and blessings.  If you will get delighted about His commands because you know it’s all for your good, you will get to enjoy everything His Word says you can have.  Don’t sadden His heart and destroy your own life by deciding you know best and breaking out of God’s restrictions.  It won’t end up pretty if you go the route of a stubborn rebel.