Whom do we listen to, God or man?
"But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority." (NLT) Acts 5:29
Human beings have nearly always, had the option of listening to God or listening to other authorities. In the Garden of Eden, God made Himself sufficiently clear when He gave His instructions as to which trees to eat from and which one to avoid utterly (Gen. 2:15-17). But man chose to listen to the serpent than to obey God (Gen. 3:1-6) and that choice led to the fall of man.
This pattern and abuse of man’s freedom of choice and disobedience to God continued throughout history; Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10), Phinehas and Hophni (1 Sam. 2:12-25) and notable among these was Israel's request for a human king rather than having God as their leader and king (1 Sam. 8:4).
The early Christians also stumbled at a point in making similar choices. The command to send the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and to the utmost ends of the earth became stagnant in Jerusalem. And it took the intervention of the Lord through a great persecution before the gospel was scattered abroad.
But prior to that, Peter and his fellow apostles were given stern instruction never to mention the name of Christ in Jerusalem. But they gathered all the courage to declare their allegiance to the Lord. They will obey God than succumb to human authority, for the authority of man defied that of God.
How do we react in adverse and awful situations? In our pleasurable moments, whom do we prefer to listen to? Among our peers and colleagues, whom do we obey? Do we still stick and walk with God and stand for what is right? Or do we just give in to the demands of our fellow human beings for fear of isolation and mockery?
Let us remember that "obedience is better than sacrifice"(1 Samuel 15:22c) and the command of the God must reign supreme constantly in our lives.