How do you feel about being obedient to God and what He asks of you? Do you clench your jaw a little or a lot?? Well, let’s dive in a little about this today!
When Jesus said, obey my commandments, you remain in my love, He wasn’t/ isn’t putting us behind jail bars. He was putting up guardrails to keep us from going off the cliff! Keeping us from falling away from His love. Obedience to Jesus keeps us in the staying power. It keeps us on the road to maturity and spiritual intimacy with our source of life.
Read 1 John 5:3. What is the correlation between loving God and obedience? Why are we prone to think of His commandments as a burden? How could we consider them a blessing instead? I recently did a sermon on abiding and the three branches, then that evening, our Lead Pastor did a follow-up of discipleship and abiding. He said that when we abide in Jesus, our love grows, and as that love for God grows, all the things we do for God are not a burden but a pleasure and a blessing!
Here is a little word study. The word teresete in the original Greek language is derived from the word tereo. The primary meaning of this word is “to guard, to watch over”. When we guard the commandments of Jesus by observing and obeying them, they guard us against danger and loss. In the following passages are directives from Jesus. Let’s see what commands ask of us and how keeping them will honor God. Lookup: Matthew 18:10, 15-17; 22:37-40; 23:8-12; 28:19-20; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:36 and John 3:7
Guardrails are to protects and help us to arrive safely at our destination. Our obedience, though, is a choice. We can still go through the guardrails and crash by disobeying Jesus’ commands. OH, but His mercies are there. He is patient and forgiving. However, We miss out on His blessings and a close relationship with Him. Out of those two things, the worst is losing out on the relationship with Him. Out of any of your relationships, His is the best. Look at 1 John 2:3-6. What stands out to you about knowing God and obeying Him in these verses?
When we keep the commandments of Jesus, we must abide in Him and live loved. God himself truly is all the blessings we need!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your mercies. I pray that we will keep your commands and see them as safe guards in our lives.
In Jesus Name
Amen
