Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God
require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and
love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am
commanding you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
For the last two days we have been looking at what is
required for living a Christian life. We
have examined the requirements in the verse above: to fear the Lord your God,
to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him, and finally, to obey Him.
To Keep the Lord’s Commandments and His
statutes…
A parent is satisfied when their child does something they are supposed to do even if they only do it because they are made to do it. They are even happier when they do the right thing because they want to please their parents, but parents are the happiest when they see their kids do the right thing just because they know that it is the right thing to do. Any good parent would not be happy with partial obedience. Partial obedience = disobedience. God does not want that from us either.
A parent is satisfied when their child does something they are supposed to do even if they only do it because they are made to do it. They are even happier when they do the right thing because they want to please their parents, but parents are the happiest when they see their kids do the right thing just because they know that it is the right thing to do. Any good parent would not be happy with partial obedience. Partial obedience = disobedience. God does not want that from us either.
Plainly put, Jesus says that
if we love Him we will keep His commandments. If you love Me,
you will keep My commandments. John 14:15 That is pretty black and white. He doesn’t say, if you feel like it, or you
can obey some of His commandments, like 50% or 30%. No partial compliance. He wants all of us. He wants all of our allegiance.
When we love someone, we are
committed to them and we want to please them.
We want to honor their requests and respect them and what they ask of
us, as long as it is honoring to God and they are not asking us to sin. Jesus is certainly not asking anything of us
that He wouldn’t do. If fact, in John 14:31
Jesus says …but so that the world may know that I love
the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Obeying the Lord’s commandments shows the world that
we do love Him. It shows God that we
love Him to. Words are cheap if there
are no actions to follow up those words.
Love is a verb and our actions prove our love. Love provides the motivation and desire for
our obedience to the Lord and His commandments.
When someone is asked, “Who do you love?” the answer is already evident
by the lifestyle and values. Jesus knows
that the best motivation for our commitment is not consequence but love. Who or what do you love?
Scripture to Claim:
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and
he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will
disclose Myself to him. John 14:21
