Obedience – “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.”
Disobedience – “failure or refusal to obey rules or someone in authority.”
Obedience is a word that affects everyone, from the time we were able to understand language it has been a part of our lives. At a very young age we were told “didn’t I tell you to stop” or “I’m not going to tell you again” these statements indicate that we were told not to and we did it anyway, we didn’t listen.
Obedience is something we struggle with every day in some way or another. The first thing in the morning is the threat of disobedience. Why? Because it is innately built in us, it is our nature not to obey. We don’t think about the consequences that come with our decision to disobey. What helps us to obey are the laws, rules and restrictions that are put upon us. We are taught to fear the consequences of our actions. If there were no consequences we would be free to say or act however we desired.
However, at some point in our development we innately know what is permissible or right and wrong. Romans 2:14-16 When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences. The Message (MSG)
We are without excuse!