Willing and Obedient

Isaiah 1:19 shows why it's important to be willing to obey God's Word: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."

Again, the promise hinges on the action you take. The conjunction "and" means "in addition, as well as." In other words, if you want to eat the good of the land, you must be both willing and obedient.

You may say, "Well, Lord, I'm obedient."

He may say, "Then be willing."

Then you reply, "All right, Lord. I'm willing. What now?"

The Lord may say, "Good. Be willing and obedient."

You must be both. If your children ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you must use peanut butter AND jelly. You cannot have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no peanut butter! That would be a jelly sandwich.

The same is true with no jelly. You would have a peanut butter sandwich. In order to have a genuine peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you must have peanut butter and jelly.

The same principle applies to eating the good of the land: You must be willing and obedient! I believe that many Christians want to be willing and obedient to God - not just to eat the good of the land, but simply to please Him.

The problem is that either we don't have enough knowledge about His Word, or we don't know what to choose from the knowledge we do have from His Word.

The Book of Psalms shows us a way we can be taught:

How to choose to please God
To eat the good of the land, and
To know God's covenant with us more clearly.

Let's look at it in Psalm:

Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

His soul will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him.
(Ps. 25:12-14 NASB)

More scripture about man fearing the Lord is found in Proverbs 8:

Take my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold. For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things can not compare with her.

I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.
(Prov. 8:10-13 NASB)