Obedience: Following the Voice of Righteousness

by: Micah A. Tecne

The general concept of obedience is related to hearing or hearkening to a higher authority. Three of the action words that are associated to obedience are hearing, listening, and trusting. In our daily lives we hear two different voices, it can either be the righteous one or the wicked one. In our daily choices, who we listen to matters because it can either make us or break us.

Throughout history, we saw some stories of kings and rulers who yielded to wicked advice, and brought them and their nations, condemnation and eventually their downfall.  Tragic results happen when we trust the wrong voice. The voice that we trust is the ones that we follow so we are encouraged to be more cautious who and what we listen to.  We need to discern whether these advice or counsels are righteous or not. If we want to accurately build our lives, our homes, our agencies, and our nation, then we need to listen, trust, and follow righteous counsel. Following the righteous voice brings righteous decisions that will eventually bring righteous results.
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When we trust the voice that counsels us, we submit to it and obey it. As Jesus emphasized the relationship between a shepherd and his flock.  The shepherd goes ahead to guide and direct his flock to guide them because they are prone to wander and be endangered. His sheep follow him because they know his voice. We cannot deny the fact that our minds are limited and we need people to give us advice and direction. The Almighty has provided us the means and will lead us to the people who will direct us. May we listen, trust, and obey His ways knowing that His plans and ways are higher than ours. Let us dot us do this with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, in all our ways submit to Him and He will make our paths straight.
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Sometimes we tend to compromise righteousness in order to please the crowd and gain the favor of men. But we are encouraged to listen to the right voice. We shall know this because there is an inner peace, confirming and assuring us that we are doing what is right. One of the characters in the movie God’s Not Dead 2 said, “I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God”. Our obedience to the Righteous Voice will bring us to a safe place that no one else can. By the end of the day, the choice would be ours, will we choose to obey the righteous voice or the wicked one?