Obedience: To many of us, the word obedience, and more specifically, the concept of obedience, carries a connotation of a blind response to an arbitrarily imposed force. In many cases it also suggests fear of punishment for disobedience, or an expectation of rewards for compliance.
It seems incongruous that an omniscient and omnipotent God would need to exact obedience to discover our love for Him. With that reason removed from the understanding of the purpose of obedience, the scripture ranking obedience as higher than sacrifice takes on a new meaning (1 Samuel 15:22), so does the scripture in Abraham 3:25 (we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things . . . ). My basic rule of teaching over the past 60 years has been that if my teaching has not helped my students to learn and understand, I have failed. Consequently, my tests have emphasized understanding and additional learning, and the tests were designed for the students’ benefit, not mine. Thus, I believe that the principle of obedience was not included in Gospel principles and priesthood covenants for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours.
It is clearly arrogant to compare my purposes with the Lord’s Eternal plan, yet, when I contemplate my Father’s love for me, and I relive some of the deeply spiritual experiences He has given me, which have strengthened my faith, and subsequently confront a commandment which I do not, as yet, fully comprehend, I can muster the faith to obey, because I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father.
Abraham is presented as a particularly strong example of obedience in the scriptures, and in many sacrament-meeting talks, and so he should be, but I believe Abraham’s actions go much deeper than that. Long before the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham had come to know God through deeply personal experiences. His obedience carried the signs of absolute trust, and I believe, that through the experience with Isaac, Abraham gained a deeper understanding of the Infinite atoning sacrifice of the Savior. Some-day, I hope to have the opportunity to talk to Abraham about that.
In my opinion, fear of punishment and hope for reward are very poor substitutes for love. Feeling the love of our Heavenly Father becomes a wonderful incentive to want to do what He expects of us. Our object in relation to the commandments should be to get to the point where we enjoy keeping them more than any alternative; so that we would live the commandments even if there were no commandments. The fact is, that we only sense the commandments as a deterrent from happiness, when we are not in harmony with the Gospel. The dog basking in the love of his master is not even aware that there is a leash on the collar around his neck. Not until he strains to get away does the leash restrict him. Once we have carved the commandments into our hearts we no longer need them on the wall to remind us. The Gospel is not so much about doing as it is about becoming.
However, not until we have arrived will a reminder of the commandments become irrelevant.
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