" If you love me you will obey my commands" John 15:6-7
This statement is Jesus speaking to his followers. Notice here what he does not say... He does not say obey my commands that you understand, nor does He say obey my commands which you agree with, he simply says if you love me obey my commands.
Jesus knows that our love for God can supercede our need to understand, agree, or want to follow his commands. So what happens when we fail to obey? The greater question is how in love our we with the one who called us to obey? How willing are we to do the things he has set out for us to do? If not, why? What steals that place in our life? Is it money? Is it success? Is it other's opinion? Is it family? Is it fear? Is it unbelief? laziness? frustration? anger? If not these what is it?
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Where on our journey did we lose our desire to give God our heart?
As I write this I do so in reflection of my own lack of love for Christ. The lack that has caused me to shy away from sharing what he has done in my life. The lack of obedience to serve the poor when I see a homeless person begging on the street corner while I sit in my car at a traffic light. When I pretend that homeless person doesn't exist, I am failing to love the very people Jesus called me to love. It is out of my own sin and shame that I recognize disobedience leads to failure, pain, and ultimately... emptiness. Knowing God's commands is one thing, living them out in relationship to him everyday is quite another. Many of us have knowledge of God's ways of His commands yet we ignore the urge within us to do what He has asked. So many times we try to do the 'right' thing, but how many of those times has the 'right' thing simply been the most 'convenient' or desirable thing to us?
I recall times of lashing out in anger at someone or something, not because it was the necessary response, but rather because it was the most desirable reaction at the moment.
When Jesus said ''if you love me you will obey my commands'' He knew that we would be tempted to do the very opposite. But he also knew that love covers a multitude of sins. He knew that the very love he has for us is greater than He who is in this world. This New Year, know that the very love that once saved us also leads us back to the cross. It is there we remember we are not alone. Christ knows our pain, our temptation, our very struggle with the world and people in it. Yet it is his love that was offered at the cross to redeem us. Even in his desire to skip the sacrificial death that covers our sins, of of love he obeyed. His willingness to obey is the ultimate demonstration of obedience to God. We may understand, we may not, we may agree or disagree, but either way the Lord commands us. It is our choice to love and obey or not. There are dozens of decisions that face us daily..what will you choose?
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21
No comments:
Post a Comment