To be obedient means to submit to the command of an authority. It means being in compliance with the demands or requests of someone or something over us. We are all called to obey someone, a parent, a teacher, a government, and so on. For example, we are subject to the laws of our country because it is required of us as citizens. But, when it comes to obeying those laws, it should also be because we love our country and because we have an allegiance to it.
God’s Word stresses the importance of our obedience to human authorities but, as believers, our ultimate authority is God. He is the reason we live. He created us and all that we have and enjoy in life comes through Him. Our obedience to God and to His commands stands above everything else. In Acts 5:29, Peter and the apostles declared that they must obey God rather than men. When we declare that the Lord is our God, when we walk in His ways and keep His commandments, it should be with all our hearts (Deuteronomy 26:16).
When we keep God’s commands, what we are saying is that we love Him (John 14:15). Our obedience to God is an act of worship. When we obey His commands, when we live our lives according to His Word, then our lives become an act of sacrificial worship, a type of worship that is acceptable and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1). A life lived in obedience to God is a life that is pleasing to God (1 Thessalonians 4:1). And that is the ultimate act of worship.
A Worshiper's Journal 