p. 435 | The Law of Obedience by Emily Huntington Miller

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 24, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 28.

The Law of Obedience.

By Emily Huntington Miller

1. LEADERS and rulers are necessary. In an army there must be leaders; it would not do for each soldier to go where he pleased; every soldier must be under orders, and learn to obey. There is, first, one man who is at the head of the army; he makes the plans and arranges the whole campaign. Then he has officers to help him carry out his plans, and these officers have others under them, and so on down to the common soldiers. Perhaps the soldiers never speak to the general; but the orders that come to them are his orders, and if they are good soldiers, they obey them, or if they are bad, they are punished, just the same as if the general himself had commanded them. So God, who is the head of all, and over all, has a plan for this world. All authority comes from him. He is the King who has a right to command; he is the Father whom we should love to obey. He is at the head, but he has given us other officers, to continually remind us not to forget his laws, and we should honor and obey them because he has placed them over us.

2. Obedience is for all. Children sometimes think only little people have to obey, and that older folks do as they please. But that is not true; we are all under orders. Paul told the disciples, "Let every man be subject unto the higher powers." God gave to children parents and teachers, to be with them and teach them his laws, because they are so young and have so much to learn; just as they take new soldiers and divide them up into little companies, to be drilled and taught by those that are wiser. But older people must also obey laws, and men and women must do what will be best for all, and not just what pleases them best.

3. Obedience is for conscience's sake. If we remember that God is the great Ruler, at the head of all, we shall obey all who have rule over us because we wish to please him. The obedience which pleases God is the obedience which comes from love, and not from fear of punishment; but those who will not obey in any other way must be made to obey by fear of punishment, for the sake of others whom they might injure. God made one great law, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" and if we only obey this law, we never should do any injury to our neighbors; we should never steal, or say false or unkind things, or covet, or harm them in any way, for this would be breaking the law of love. But because there are people who do not keep this law of love in their hearts, we have to make a great many other laws, and have jails and prisons to punish those who disobey. It is only those who wish to disobey who think the laws are hard, and hate and fear the officers.

Once in a meeting of street-boys, when they were all interested in a story, a police officer suddenly appeared. Instantly several boys jumped under the benches and crept out at the door. The officer had not come for them, but they knew they were law-breakers, and they were afraid. It is better to have people who do not need any officers; but because we do need them, we should be careful to treat them with respect and honor. This world would be a very unpleasant place to live in if we had no government, no one to see that roads were made, and bridges built, lighthouses and harbors kept in order, letters carried all over the world, bad and dangerous men kept from robbing and stealing and doing mischief. It costs a great deal of money to do all this and a thousand other things which we never think of; things that are only done in Christian countries, where people know that God is the great Ruler, and that his children must care for each other. So we ought to be willing and ready to do our part to help in carrying out the laws, and not only obey them ourselves, but pay the taxes that are necessary for their support. The scripture says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers." "Every soul" means every one; "higher powers" means every one who has authority over you—parents, teachers, pastors, rulers; "be subject" means to give cheerful obedience and respect. And the reason of all is that these powers are all appointed by God to carry out his plan of teaching us all to love him and each other.