THE SCHOOL OF OBEDIENCE

On Thursday October 4, 2018, I walked into a banking hall and noticed some elated customers holding branded gift items like pens, key holders and mugs. It was customer appreciation week and the first ten customers for the day were being appreciated by the bank officials. While these lucky customers were posing for pictures with their gifts in the banking hall, I had a nudge in my spirit to go and join them. The instruction sounded quite absurd and I whispered to myself "what if the bank officials embarrass me". I struggled hard to ignore the instruction but the more I tried, the more restless I became. After a few minutes, I reluctantly left where I was standing and went to join the customers to pose for pictures as they displayed their gifts. Since I had no gift to pose with, I grudgingly displayed my empty hand. I thought God wanted to embarrass me but I never knew He wanted to teach me some deep lessons in the school of obedience.  

Suddenly, one of the bank officials who noticed that my hand was empty ran into her office and came back immediately with a big new branded umbrella. As she handed the umbrella to me, all the ten customers who were holding pens, key holders and mugs began to grumble and murmur. She managed to calm them down by assuring them that she only intended to lend me the umbrella to pose for the pictures with them. Although, she collected the umbrella in the presence of all those customers, she gave it back to me before I left the banking hall on that day. Even though, I came late and should not have gotten anything, I got the best gift. What an enviable testimony! 

In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus Christ emphasized one of the lessons that God taught me in the banking hall that day: There is a level with God where enviable testimonies become the logo of a man. There is a level where God effortlessly breaks protocols for some people to be honoured. To reach that level, we must be willing to obey God foolishly and follow His instructions blindly. The truth is God's instruction may not sound reasonable or logical but the rewards are huge. Every divine instruction is a trigger for enviable testimony. Don't allow your ego and stubbornness to rob you of uncommon testimony. Stop using that small grey matter of yours to analyze divine instructions. God's ways are far beyond our understanding (Romans 11:33-34). 

However, it is impossible to obey the Almighty God that we don't even know or have any intimate relationship with. So, I urge you to please enlist yourself for enviable testimonies in the last quarter of year 2025 by connecting or reconnecting yourself with Jesus Christ today. You will never regret you did!

The lyrics of this popular hymn below re-echoes some of the rewards of obeying God at all times.

TRUST AND OBEY By J. H. Sammis (1846-1919)

When we walk with the Lord by  

In the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way;

While we do His good will,

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

 

Refrain:

       Trust and obey,

       For there’s no other way

       To be happy in Jesus,

        But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,

Not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt or a fear,

Not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,

Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss,

Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove

The delights of His love,

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows,

And the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet,

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;

What He says we will do;

Where He sends, we will go,

Never fear, only trust and obey

Beloved, as the Lord God of heavens lives, you and I shall not end this year empty handed in Jesus name. Rather, we shall walk out of the banking hall of 2025 with our own enviable testimonies that will make those who are already ahead of us to murmur and grumble. Blessings that will make headlines and trigger controversies will come knocking at our doors very soon in Jesus name. 

Good day and God bless you.                      

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

https://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com

https://okanlawonwebnote.com