THE CHILDREN STORY CORNER:

OBEDIENCE

My dad was always quoting the scripture to me, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Since he or mother had to say it more than once, I evidently did not learn this lesson as quickly as I should have.

When the Lord was leading the nation of Israel this was one lesson that needed to be repeated over and over. They heard what God said to them, but they did not always do what they were told to do. For instance, they were given the 10 Commandments, but often many of the commandments were continually broken.

As a result, they needed to have sacrifices offered for them on the Day of Atonement to make the altar free from sin, so they could offer up their daily sacrifices in the coming year and be forgiven.

Do we ask for forgiveness for something we have done, and say, “Oh, I will never do that again,” only to find that we do the same wrong thing again and need again to ask for forgiveness?

We may wonder why the Israelites didn’t learn their lessons a little more quickly, but have we learned quickly this lesson of obedience? I’ve often thought how wonderful it is that our loving Heavenly Father is so patient with us. He gives us the lessons over and over again, until we, hopefully, learn to change our ways.

It might help us if we remembered the Scriptures tells us that not only other people are looking at our lives, but also even angels are looking down to see if we are obeying. Maybe that would make us a little more careful about what we say and do. While our family and friends may not see all we do or say, we can be sure the angels and God does.

It has been said, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” Why? Because he knows we are asking God to help us, and that He will help us, but not until we make an effort to obey. When the Israelites were escaping from Egypt and came to the Red Sea, the waters did not part until Moses stretched out his rod. They were then able to cross on dry land. If the Moses had not trusted and obeyed the Lord, they would not have received His help. So let’s remember, when our Lord sees us take that step of obedience, He will give us His promised help and since “practice makes perfect,” the more we try to do the right thing, asking God for His help, the easier it will become!

Your Aunt Vivien