Obedience
to Christ
"He that hath My
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me
shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
him" (John 14:21).
The Christian life is not
all that complicated. In this vital Bible verse Jesus lays out for us two plain
and simple thoughts: those of us who have the commandments of Christ should
keep them. Now, that makes sense doesn't it?
What is the use of having
and knowing the Word of Christ if we ignore it, live contrary to it, and
willingly disobey it? Jesus said that obedience to His Word is the proof of our
love for Him. Most of us have taken care of the first part of this thought. We
all have Bibles. In fact, we usually have a number of Bibles in our homes: the
King James, the New American Standard, the Amplified, and so on.
We have the commands of God.
But the critical issue is: do we obey them? Do we pattern our lives after the
Scriptures?
Two problems can arise. One,
we can have the scriptures in our homes but they can be left on the shelves un‑opened.
One man said that if everyone in America who owned a Bible would blow on the
cover at the same time, it would create the biggest dust storm ever experienced
in the U.S. Maybe so! We know that can happen ‑ to neglect the Word of
God ‑ not read it, study it, memorize it.
But a second problem can
arise. We can be one of those who learn the commandments of God in vain. How is
that possible? Simple. To have them and not keep them.
Jesus said, "If ye know
these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17). To have the
commands of Christ in our heads is one thing. To know them is all important. To
keep them is imperative.
What a blessing to be
identified with that great band of men and women around the world who truly
love the Lord Jesus. And who are they? Not those who have the greatest intellect
to explain the deep mysteries of God; not those with the greatest power of
persuasion and ability to speak with force and clarity; not those who have the
greatest wealth and thus are able to give great sums of money to advance the
work of the Kingdom; but simply those who keep His Word.
Jesus said, "If ye keep
my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I
command you" (John 15:10, 14).
This is not to say that
those with great intelligence, speaking ability or wealth cannot be among those
who love and obey the Lord. Of course they can. What it does say is that there
is no substitute for obedience.
This vital Bible verse then
states the blessings that follow a life of obedience. He who loves Christ will
be loved by the Father. God so loves His Son that He showers grace upon them
who love Him also. Then Jesus said that He will love us too. In the nature of
God, nothing shines more brightly than the fact that God is love; unless it is
the fact that God loves us.
The next blessing that
follows is the promise of the personal manifestation of Christ to our hearts
and lives. He gives us grace to understand something of the dimensions of His
eternal love for us.
Christ does not manifest
Himself in all His fullness to the wayward and disobedient. Why? Because their
ears are tuned to a different voice and their feet are turned to a different
path. Let me urge you to take this matter seriously. Learn the Word of God and
keep it.
This vital Bible verse is
just one of 60 carefully selected scriptures that are contained in the
Navigators Scripture Memory course. If you want to
memorize Scripture, but aren't sure what to memorize or how to get started,
this is exactly what you need. The Topical Memory System includes memory verse cards in four different Bible versions -
NIV, KJV, NASB, NKJV. Topics include all of the basics of the Christ-centered
Spirit-filled life, sharing your faith, and growing on to maturity in your walk
with God. May God bless you as you fill your life with His Word.
© Copyright 2002, LeRoy Eims