Obedience is the willingness to submit oneself to the will of God and to live by His will. The Bible emphasizes the importance of obeying God’s commandments, gives reasons why obedience is necessary and states the rewards promised to obedient people.
The Bible also presents Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the perfect example of obedience and directs us to fellow in His footsteps. Jesus Himself made several statements to admonish, encourage and even command us to follow and learn from Him. In John 10:27, He said:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
The call to imitate Jesus in thought, speech and action is repeated in several places in the Bible, but in Philippians 2:5, the Holy Spirit took it a step higher, saying to us:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
What mind is He talking about here? He is referring to the loving, merciful, self-abasing, self-sacrificing mind which was in Jesus Christ. Although Jesus was the anointed Son of God, He made himself of no reputation. Our Lord did not think of Himself, neither did He serve His own interests. He came not to be ministered to, but rather to minister and give His life as a ransom for many. To carry out His assignment here on earth, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. These descriptions of His sacrifice sum up the nature of mind the Holy Spirit is referring to.

Obedience to the will of God demonstrates the reality of a person’s faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:15). Christ’s humility created the grounds for our total commitment and submission to the will of God. It also earned Him the title of “Author of Eternal Salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). Oh, how great His love for us is! Because of His great love for us and His determination to save us from the wrath of God, He became obedient unto death – even the death of the cross. God’s own dear Son came in the form of a man to fulfil all the requirements of God’s law for the sake of His people. Having fulfilled all righteousness, He submitted Himself to a shameful and excruciating death on the cross of Calvary. Since Christ’s love for us is so evident, the least we can do for His sake is to love one another as He loved us (1st John 4:9-11). This is the essence of Christianity: to develop a good appreciation of what Jesus did for us and to follow in His steps to the benefit of humanity and the glory of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.