Obey God Completely

 
 Keeping Jehovah in mind constantly will help us to obey him, and we will reap blessings as a consequence. (Deut. 28:13; 1 Sam. 15:22) This calls for an obedient spirit. Consider the attitude of five fleshly sisters, the daughters of Zelophehad, who lived in Moses’ day. 

Among the Israelites, sons customarily received the inheritance from their fathers. The man Zelophehad died without sons, and Jehovah directed that these five women were to receive the entire inheritance—on one condition. They had to marry sons of Manasseh so that the inherited property would remain with the same tribe.—Num. 27:1-8; 36:6-8.
 
 Zelophehad’s daughters had faith that things would work out well if they obeyed God. “Just as Jehovah had commanded Moses, that is the way the daughters of Zelophehad did,” says the Bible. “Accordingly Mahlah, Tirzah and Hoglah and Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, became the wives of the sons of their father’s brothers. 

To some of the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph they became wives, that their inheritance might continue together with the tribe of the family of their father.” (Num. 36:10-12) 

Those obedient women did what Jehovah commanded. (Josh. 17:3, 4) With similar faith, spiritually mature unmarried Christians obey God by marrying “only in the Lord.”—1 Cor. 7:39.
 
 We need to obey Jehovah completely, as the Israelite Caleb did. (Deut. 1:36) After Israel’s deliverance from Egypt in the 16th century B.C.E., Moses sent 12 men to spy out Canaan, but only 2 of the spies—Caleb and Joshua—urged the people to have full trust in God and enter the land. (Num. 14:6-9)

Some four decades later, Joshua and Caleb were still alive and following Jehovah fully, and God used Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. However, the ten faithless spies evidently died during Israel’s 40-year trek in the wilderness.—Num. 14:31-34.
 
 As an elderly survivor of Israel’s experience in the wilderness, Caleb could stand before Joshua and say: “I followed Jehovah my God fully.” (Read Joshua 14:6-9.) Eighty-five-year-old Caleb asked that he be given the mountainous region that God had promised him, although it was inhabited by enemies in their great fortified cities.—Josh. 14:10-15.
 
 Like faithful and obedient Caleb, we will have divine support if we ‘follow Jehovah fully.’ If we face great obstacles, we will be blessed as we ‘follow Jehovah fully.’ But doing so throughout life, as Caleb did, can be a challenge. 

Although King Solomon started out very well, his wives inclined his heart to serve false gods in his old age, and “he did not follow Jehovah fully like David his father.” (1 Ki. 11:4-6) Regardless of the trials we must face, may we always obey God completely and keep him before us constantly.