Obedience Is the Key That Unlocks God’s Promises

by Rick Warren — May 4, 2020

“Follow all the directions the LORD your God has given you. Life will go well for you.”

Deuteronomy 5:33 (GW)

Have you ever thought about the link between faith and obedience? When you trust someone, you do what they say. If you don’t do what someone tells you to do, it means you don’t trust them.

In the Bible, God links faith and obedience over and over again. The promises of God are conditioned on you following the directions he gives you.

Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Follow all the directions the Lord your God has given you. Life will go well for you” (GW).

God has made some incredible, specific promises in his Word about obedience. In fact, there are so many promises that I can’t list them all here. But here are a few:

“God blesses those who obey him” (Proverbs 16:20 TLB).

“He saves those who obey him” (Psalm 7:10 GNT). 

“The Lord watches over those who obey him” (Psalm 33:18 GNT).

“The Lord takes care of those who obey him” (Psalm 37:18 GNT).

“God gives us what we ask for because we obey God’s commands” (1 John 3:22 NCV).

“Always obey the Lord and you will be happy” (Proverbs 28:14 GNT).

“Keep God’s laws and you will live longer” (Proverbs 19:16 GNT).

“Those who obey him have all they need . . . Those who obey the Lord lack nothing good” (Psalm 34:9-10 GNT).

That’s an incredible list of promises. If you follow God’s directions, you’ll be blessed, saved, watched over, taken care of, given what you ask for, and happy; you’ll live longer and lack nothing good.

Obedience is the premise behind all of the promises. God gives you his promises by grace. But you get to enjoy his promises when you follow his instructions.

Sometimes you understand God’s instructions. But sometimes you don’t. And you need to obey whether or not you understand.

Some of God’s commands might sound confusing. Some may seem unfair. For example, the Bible says to take the first 10 percent of your income and give it back to him. It says that when people do evil to you, you are to do good back to them. These things don’t always make sense from a human standpoint. But the things that don’t make sense to us are the things God asks us to do by faith. He wants us to trust him and obey anyway.

I want you to enjoy all of God’s promises. Obedience is the key that unlocks them. Choose to follow his directions today in faith. He promises to reward you for your obedience.

Talk It Over

  • How are faith, obedience, and God’s promises all dependent on each other?
  • Which of God’s commands have you not been obeying because you don’t understand why to obey? Will you commit to obeying in faith, even if you don’t understand?
  • Read over the list of God’s promises again. Which one stands out the most to you? Spend a few minutes in prayer, thanking God for that promise and asking him to help you obey his directions.

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.