“this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” – 1 John 5:3
How do I know if I love God? Is it a feeling? Is it an emotion? Is it that sense of awe I get when I see a sunrise or enter into an incredible worship experience on Sunday morning? None of these things are bad. In fact, love without feeling is not true love. Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 13. We can... do all kinds of sacrificial things and still have no love.
However, the apostle John gives us a poignant description of what it means to love God. To love God is to obey God. There are no shorts cuts around holiness. The God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament. It’s not like there used to be a bunch of rules, but now that Jesus as come we can simply coast on grace. Salvation is not simply about God forgiving us of our sin, it’s about God making us into new creations.
How does that happen? It starts when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. At that moment we are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit creates in use the desire and ability to obey Jesus. Notice I said “desire”, not just ability. The very essence of genuine salvation is that our “wanter” changes. What we crave and desire changes. That’s what John means by “his commands are not burdensome”. Let me put it this way. If someone commanded me to eat a tub of Blue Bell ice cream, their command would not be burdensome to me. Why? Because the command lines up with what I already desire. I love ice cream, for someone to make me eat ice cream wouldn’t be a burden, it would be a joy!
In the same way, when we are reborn by the Holy Spirit, Jesus still expects us to obey Him. But it’s an obedience that’s rooted in joy. True Christians long to be like Jesus and want to fall in line with his wise directives. So the question today is, do I really love God? Have I let the other desires and passion crowd out my love for Jesus so that I no longer hear the promptings of God’s Spirit? Am I taking time to feed on Christ’s word and build a relationship with Him through prayer? I’ve often found that time spent at Jesus’ feet is directly correlated with my obedience to Him – and ultimately my love.
How do I know if I love God? Is it a feeling? Is it an emotion? Is it that sense of awe I get when I see a sunrise or enter into an incredible worship experience on Sunday morning? None of these things are bad. In fact, love without feeling is not true love. Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 13. We can... do all kinds of sacrificial things and still have no love.
However, the apostle John gives us a poignant description of what it means to love God. To love God is to obey God. There are no shorts cuts around holiness. The God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament. It’s not like there used to be a bunch of rules, but now that Jesus as come we can simply coast on grace. Salvation is not simply about God forgiving us of our sin, it’s about God making us into new creations.
How does that happen? It starts when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. At that moment we are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit creates in use the desire and ability to obey Jesus. Notice I said “desire”, not just ability. The very essence of genuine salvation is that our “wanter” changes. What we crave and desire changes. That’s what John means by “his commands are not burdensome”. Let me put it this way. If someone commanded me to eat a tub of Blue Bell ice cream, their command would not be burdensome to me. Why? Because the command lines up with what I already desire. I love ice cream, for someone to make me eat ice cream wouldn’t be a burden, it would be a joy!
In the same way, when we are reborn by the Holy Spirit, Jesus still expects us to obey Him. But it’s an obedience that’s rooted in joy. True Christians long to be like Jesus and want to fall in line with his wise directives. So the question today is, do I really love God? Have I let the other desires and passion crowd out my love for Jesus so that I no longer hear the promptings of God’s Spirit? Am I taking time to feed on Christ’s word and build a relationship with Him through prayer? I’ve often found that time spent at Jesus’ feet is directly correlated with my obedience to Him – and ultimately my love.
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