‘If you love me, keep my commands.’ …. ’Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Anyone who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’ …. ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete’ …. ‘You are my friends if you do what I command.’
John 14:15, 21; 15:11,14.
Thank you to Michelle for for guiding our thoughts and prayers in the Psalms last week.
This week we are picking up again on the furrows we need to dig in order to produce Joy. First we recognised that in order to dig furrows they need to be straight and the way to do that is to keep our eyes on God, the only true fixed point. We then looked at the furrows of Bible Study, Prayer, Worship and Meditation.
Now to something that at first seems somewhat unpalatable – Obedience! It is clearly a command, we must ‘do’ what He says! Jesus in the great commission commanded us to make disciples … teach them to ‘obey’ everything He has commanded!
The motivation however is not threat but love. ‘If you love me ….’
The reward for obedience is exactly what we want – Being loved by God and becoming more like Jesus! Obedience is the sign of love on our part. In this love relationship, Jesus shows us, reveals to us, more and more of himself which is the sign of Love on His part.
Obedience leads to Joy because it keeps before us our best friend!