The following blog post contains notes and application questions from our October 27, 2019 message, Obedience. For more from this series, check out This Is The Life.

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• When you think about God, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
• In the next 24-hours, read the “Proverb of the day” (e.g. on the 28th day of the month read Proverbs 28), and pick one proverb that you can act on...that you can obey that day.

Summary

When’s the last time you made a choice that resulted in pain and grief? What about a choice that resulted in peace and joy? As we continue our series, “This is the Life,” Blake Holmes teaches us how to live a wise life marked by obedience.

Key Takeaways

• A wise life is marked by obedience.
• The Book of Proverbs is one of 5 poetical books in the Old Testament. It is made up of 31 chapters, it is filled with short proverbs or wisdom sayings, and Proverbs are not promises, but concise, memorable statements expressing a general truth.
• The Lord determines the standard by which we are to live.
• To fear the Lord is to recognize Him for who He is and to submit to His authority.
• We can choose to obey or disobey.
• The wise choose to trust and obey, whereas fools choose to disobey.
• Proverbs distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is possessing information; wisdom is choosing to act on that information.
• The goal of Bible study is not more information but transformation!
• We will only obey God to the extent that we trust Him.
• Who and what are you going to choose to believe this week?
• There is always a consequence to our choices.
• Most of the decisions we make result in temporary consequences, but there is one decision you must make that is of eternal consequence. You must answer the questions: 1) Who is Jesus?, and 2) Is He worth following.

Memorable Quotes

• “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us … Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God?’ we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the church will stand tomorrow.” -A.W. Tozer
• “Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” -Bonhoeffer

Mentioned or Recommended Resources

• Suggested Scripture study: Proverbs 1:8-9; Proverbs 3:1-2; Proverbs 4:10-15; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 14:27; Proverbs 19:23; Proverbs 28:14; Proverbs 24:11-12; Proverbs 14:12; Proverbs 18:1; Proverbs 14:15; Proverbs 10:8; Matthew 7:24-27; Proverbs 3:5-8; Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 2:6-15; Proverbs 3:13-18; Proverbs 28:1; Proverbs 25:26; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24; John 14:21
• Sermon: Extraordinary Living Marked by Ordinary Obedience
• Sermon: Obey
• Sermon Series: This is the Life