Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8

A Lesson of Obedience

God's laws for nature are obeyed by nature. Cloud and storm, sunshine and shower, dew and rain, all are under the supervision of God and yield obedience to His command. In obedience to the law of God the spire of grain bursts through the earth, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” Mark 4:28. The fruit is first seen in the bud, and the Lord develops it in its proper season because it does not resist His working. So the birds fulfill God's purpose as they make their long migrations from land to land, guided through trackless space by the hand of infinite power. 8T 327.1

Can it be that man, made in the image of God, endowed with reason and speech, shall alone be unappreciative of His gifts and disobedient to His laws? Will those who might be elevated and ennobled, fitted to be colaborers with Him, be content to remain imperfect in character and to cause confusion in our world? Shall the bodies and souls of God's purchased inheritance be hampered with world-bound habits and unholy practices? Shall they not reflect the beauty of Him who has done all things well, that through His grace imperfect man might hear at last His benediction: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: ...enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”? Matthew 25:21. 8T 327.2

God desires us to learn from nature the lesson of obedience. 8T 327.3

“Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Who knoweth not in all these,
That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought?”
“With God is wisdom and might;
He hath counsel and understanding.” Job 12:7-9, 13, A. R. V. 8T 327.4

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“Blessed is the man” whose “delight is in the law of Jehovah....
He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also doth not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3, A. R. V. 8T 328.1

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The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. Both make us better acquainted with God by teaching us of His character and of the laws through which He works. 8T 328.2