Obedience, the Soldier’s First Duty

FOLLOWING THE BATTLE of Chickamauga in Georgia, Davis made a speech on Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the necessity of obedience and subordination. A reporter wrote the following notes concerning Davis’s spirited speech.

He began by paying a warm tribute to their gallantry, displayed on the bloody field of Chickamauga, defeating the largely superior force of the enemy, who had boasted of their ability to penetrate to the heart of Georgia, and driving them back, like sheep, into a pen, and protected by strong entrenchments, from which naught but an indisposition to sacrifice unnecessarily the precious lives of our brave and patriotic sol­diers, prevented us from driving them. But, he said, they had given still higher evidence of courage, patriotism, and resolute determination to live freemen or die freemen by their patient endurance and buoyant, cheerful spirits amid privations and suffering from half ­rations, thin blankets, ragged clothes, and shoeless feet, than given by baring their breasts to the enemy. He reminded them that obedience was the first duty of a soldier, remarking that when he was a youth, a veteran officer said to him: “My son, remember that obedience is the soldier’s first duty. If your com­manding officer orders you to burn your neighbor’s house down and to sit on the ridge­pole till it falls in, do it.” The president said that this was an exaggerated statement of duty, but prompt, unquestioning obedience of subordinates to their superiors could not be too highly commended. If the subordinate stops to consider the propriety of an order, the delay may derange the superior’s whole plan, and the opportune moment for achieving a success or averting a defeat may be irretrievably lost.

Our God places a great importance on obedience as seen in the prophet Samuel’s confrontation with King Saul: “But Samuel replied: Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

Are you ready to obey the voice of the Lord today? Are you ready to go where He tells you to go and do what He tells you to do? When we obey the Lord, we invite God’s blessings on our lives.