John 14:23-24
Jesus replied:
If anyone loves
me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come
to them and live in them. But anyone who doesn’t love me, won’t obey me.
What they have heard me say doesn’t really come from me, but from the
Father who sent me.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
We
picked up the boys yesterday afternoon and brought them home for an
overnight stay. Timothy is out of school today, and this is Nathan’s
regular Friday to stay with us while Mom and Dad are at work. We took
the boys for haircuts…then we went to see our niece, Erin, play her
final regular conference softball game. The boys played on an adjacent
playground during the game. Then we picked up pizza and headed for
home, where the brothers ate, played with Legos® and other toys, and
drew/colored pictures.
Both boys were sitting at the counter
coloring after their baths, and I told them it was almost bedtime.
Timothy asked if they could watch television in bed. I told him I was
not sure there would be time for that. I was in another room, and I
heard him say, “You don’t love us anymore.” This was echoed by Nathan.
I told him that we do love them – very much – and Timothy said, “Well,
if you loved us, you would do what WE want to do! We just are not going
to share our love with you anymore!”
I
couldn’t help but think of this when I read today’s scripture passage.
Jesus is telling us that anyone who truly loves Him will obey Him – and
by default, they will obey God. Jesus is God’s “vehicle” to deliver
love and instruction to us. The wonderful thing about Jesus is that
those of us who belong to Him are called to show our love for Him with
our obedience and faithfulness…but HIS love for us is not dependent upon this!
We
will love Timothy, Nathan and Zola even when they disobey us…but we
won’t be very happy with them at times. We know that the children are
being manipulative and “testing the waters” when they say, “You don’t
love me anymore”…or “If you don’t give me what I want, I won’t share my
love with you any longer.” We also know they don't really mean it! When we disobey Jesus, He will still
love us. But when we deliberately choose to withhold our love from Jesus...this is a serious thing!
Greg
gently reminded the boys of all of the fun things we had done
yesterday…all because we love them. And we don’t have to look far at
all to see the wonderful things that Jesus does for us every minute of
the day. What’s not to love? How can we possibly fail to have faith
that He will continue to meet our every need? Why would we NOT want to
obey One who loves us so unconditionally?
Do you love Jesus…I
mean REALLY love Him? Is your life demonstrating just how much you
value His presence in your life each and every day? Do you trust Jesus
to represent God’s love and care to you? Are you making every effort to
show Him your love by serving Him with faithfulness and obedience - or
are you trying to manipulate Him into doing what YOU want? The time has
come to decide whether we are making a difference for Jesus...or still
trying to make our own point. Which way will you choose?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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