Most of the time we view obedience to God as a drudge or boring job. Obedience is something we swallow as a bitter pill. Most of the time this is because we don't know what is at stake when we obey or disobey.
As of late I have been reading the book of Lamentations. The book is a compilation of 5 poems written by Jeremiah recounting and lamenting the destruction Jerusalem and the Jewish temple by the Babylonians in 6th century BC (this historical narrative is found in 2 Kings 24-25).
The summary is this: the Israelites were rejecting God's guidance and law in various ways: intermarrying with foreigners (and therefore "watering down" of the concept of the "Chosen People") and worshiping foreign gods. Jeremiah in chapter two says that God has left His sanctuary. This means that God has removed Himself from the dwelling He had for centuries - the Temple. This was both a rejection of Israelite worship as well as a rejection of the people themselves. Because of his abandoning (at least temporarily), Israel was overtaken by the Babylonians and taken into exile.
All because they couldn't just obey the God who loved them.
Paul warns about this in Colossians 2:8 - "8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." This is basically the same warning that God makes to the Israelites in the OT. Don't be fooled, stay close to me - don't be fooled by other things. God gives the Israelites different things to follow as a representative in the OT - burning bush, ark of the covenant, smoke and fire, etc. God finally comes in human form in Jesus Christ in the NT. Jesus is the shining sign of God's love for His people and the rest of humanity. We are warned in the Colossians to keep our focus on Christ in the way the Jews and Gentiles were called to keep their focus on God's law.
Those who believe obey - keep obeying God and
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