In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel chastised King Saul by saying, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." It should be logical that inferior beings should be ready and willing to listen to and heed a superior being. God doesn't have any desire to scold or punish us but He does want us to learn and avoid harming ourselves as well His other children. I like even better Moses's words in Deuteronomy 30:20 "That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is they life, and the length of thy days". Just as children toward parents do, we often misinterpret and misunderstand obedience. On the surface it seems to be a concept of having our own will squashed in deference to someone greater imposing His will upon us. I wish I could help ALL of God's children, all over the earth, to better understand the concept of obedience to God. To begin with, I would explain what it is NOT:
Obeying God is not the teeth-clenching, frustrated resignation as a recruit shouts at a drill sergeant "Yes, Sir!" God only wants us to feel "fear" to get our attention, much as when a parent shouts at a young child about to run into the road in front of a car or a parent threatens a wayward teenager who is making choices that could have disastrous consequences.
Obeying God is not the frightened, over-eager desire to please as a fearful employee trying to appease a boss who might fire him. God loves us forever and unconditionally. He is not going to withdraw His love because we are foolish, rebellious, or even cruel. He will also not remove consequences received for disobedience to laws. If we jump off a cliff, He is not likely to send a sky-hook to catch us and prevent our crash landing. What would that teach us about choices? We are not here to increase His profit margin. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He does not require us for His own selfish purposes. However, He does desire our love to Him in return and we show that love (and trust) by our desire to listen to Him and obey Him.
Obeying God is not the whiny, insistent, desperate efforts of a spoiled child who keeps hoping that God will "love " him enough to let him do what he wants to do, promising future obedience or greater efforts and hoping any potential undesired consequences could be averted. He will not give in to what we unwisely request just because we promise Him something He doesn't really need anyway. No matter how much we beg to have a puppy/horse/bigger house, etc.- we will still have to deal with whatever it is on our own. It is in our own best interests that God does not give us more than we can handle- and that includes blessings as well as curses. We think we want to "win the lottery" and have pains removed, have the weather always perfect, have our every lust fulfilled- but He knows this would destroy us. He wants us to be like His Son, and like Himself. He wants us to be able to comprehend the deeper, more peaceful happiness of caring, sharing, and serving.
Obedience to God must originate from our love and trust toward Him. It is only through meekness and sincere humility that we must seek His face, His wisdom, His will to be made known to us. We are not perfect in His way. We cannot achieve that in mortality because being mortal is, by definition, being a "natural man" who, also by definition, is an enemy to God. We cannot be greedy, lustful, angry, cruel, lazy, or intolerant and be like Him. Our need to be repentant is not for Him to punish us but for us to gain wisdom and step closer to perfection. Our Father in Heaven has offered us His greatest gift, His Only Begotten Son, because He loves us and would have justice satisfied as we take steps to be with Him forever. This earth is a lovely creation of His but it is nothing compared to what He wants to share with us. Obedience to Him, to truth and eternal law, is the only way.
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