Obedience Begets Righteousness

416 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 2:1-3,”It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" And the LORD said to him, "Go up." David said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron." 2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. (2 Sam 2:1-3) Saul is dead, Ziklag is in ruins. What should David do next? How about praying? Good advice for all of us, when our world comes crashing down around us. David starts his prayer in a very practical way. He knows that he is to be Israel's next king and he suspects that their may be a power struggle between he and the followers of Saul. He, being from the tribe of Judah, would find his most support in the confines of Judah's territory, and so He asks God if he should take his family and followers to any of the cities in Judah. God says “Yes.” It is only after David has the green light to go, that he asks God about a specific city, and God told him, “Hebron.” Please note that David did what God told him to do. Remembering that if God would've said “no” or go to some other city, David would've obeyed. This is so critical in our own prayer life. We must approach God with the resolve to act on His revelation. If there is no immediate revelation, we need to learn to wait, and if there is revelation, we need to act. Jas 5:16b, says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” And who is a “righteous” man, if not one who is sold out to doing things God's way? Our perfect example of this is Jesus, as we read in Ro 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” There is a spiritual principle here, obedience (doing things God-way) begets righteousness. Our personal righteousness of course is a product of the perfect obedience of Jesus. But you cannot separate the two. Righteousness and obedience are forever connected through the life of Jesus. A.W. Tozer has said that “prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.” So like David, we should pray, and like David we should purpose to “pray to obey.” And of course, we should always realize that our obedience produces results in “right, God-pleasing living,” but it never produces righteousness unto salvation. For without faith in Jesus, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. (Is 64:6)