How to become obedient to God in three words …

It is a dangerous thing to be comfortable when you should be concerned. In the final years before the Babylonian conquest, the people of Judah and Jerusalem were moving through their lives with a sense of normalcy that was entirely detached from reality. They weren’t looking for a way out because they didn’t believe they were in trouble. Into this atmosphere of settled indifference, God sent a message that stripped away all the usual religious noise. He didn’t ask for a new ceremony or a more heartfelt song; He gave three blunt instructions that demanded a total restructuring of how they lived and who they served:

The first instruction God gave through his prophets was a physical and practical command to change course. In Jeremiah 35:15, the message is recorded: “Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, ‘Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you would not listen to me or obey me.”

In this historical setting, the command to “TURN” was an urgent call for the people to abandon their current trajectory. God identified their specific path as “wicked ways,” which encompassed the actions and lifestyle choices that violated the covenant. This was a call to exit the path of rebellion. For those living in Judah and Jerusalem, it was the recognition that the road they were on was leading toward national judgment, and the only way to avoid that end was to stop and head in a different direction.

The second phase of God’s instruction focused on active righteousness. It was not enough for the people to merely exit a bad path; they had to enter the correct one. God explicitly told them to “START doing things right.” This is where the standard of God’s holiness met the reality of their daily lives in the land.

Doing things right involved an intentional shift toward obedience in every area of conduct. It meant that the void left by their “wicked ways” had to be filled with actions that aligned with God’s specific commands. This was the practical application of wisdom where honesty, justice, and mercy were to become the new operating procedures for the people. When a person starts doing things right, they ensure that their outward behavior matches the requirements of their Creator.

The final requirement established a boundary for the people: “STOP worshiping other gods.” This was a mandatory requirement for the people to remain in the land. Throughout this period, many within the nation were engaged in blatant hypocrisy, maintaining the rituals of the Temple while simultaneously bowing to the idols of the surrounding nations. God’s message made it clear that such divided loyalty was unacceptable.

Peace was not a generic feeling in this passage; it was a specific promise of security in the land tied to the exclusive worship of the one true God. When the people allowed other things — the idols of the surrounding cultures — to take the place of God, they forfeited their peace. The command to “stop” was an act of purging spiritual adultery. Only when the false gods were removed could the peace of God occupy the territory. God was clear: there would be no peace for those who did not worship him alone as God.

In making this attempt to teach the people how to obey, God focused the instruction on three unmistakable words: Turn, Start, and Stop. While this was a message delivered to a specific people in a specific time, these instructions show that obedience begins with clear choices: rejecting what is wrong, doing what is right, and giving God undivided loyalty — a principle that remains wise for those seeking to live faithfully today.

Scotty