15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
Our Lord Jesus came to this earth fleshing out the pattern of love and obedience that His disciples – both then and now – were and are expected to follow. This is not a legalistic set of rules, rather an obedience that flows freely from a life of love for our Lord – all that He is and all that He has done and all that He continues to do for us. Scripture tells us:
17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 1 John 4:17 (NIV)
19 We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (NIV)
“Obedience to God is the most infallible evidence of sincere and supreme love for Him.” Nathanael Emmons
Jesus desired for His disciples upon His departure to demonstrate their love for Him not through a lamenting grief rather through a loving obedient duty. The truest test of love of a disciple towards Jesus has and always will be the practical fleshing out of obedience to His commands – this is better than both tears (emotion) and sacrifice (works). It is a life which does not limit God working through us by either our human emotions or thinking.
“Sanctification is a life of Christ-centered choices, made evident in loving obedience to God.” Mel De Peal
Scripture is replete with this message. I am reminded of God’s Word through the prophet Jeremiah:
21 "'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward." Jer 7:21-24 (NIV)
Who can forget Samuel’s poignant conversation with the disobedient King Saul who forsook God’s orders for fear of mere man? Samuel’s words to Saul encapsulate the essence of our discussion:
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." 1 Sam 15:22-24 (NIV)
To be sure, obedience to God in its basic essence boils down to our trust that He has our best interest at heart. It is a knowing faith that His plans for us are for our wellbeing - plans to prosper and not harm – to give us hope and a future. It is a faith that is based on a firm knowledge of Who He is and of a greater understanding of His ways. The more we know Him, the more we will love Him and the more we love Him the more we will trust Him and desire to be obedient to His will. John tells us:
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)
“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that either one of them implies the other too.” F. F. Bruce
It is when we go our own way, leaning upon our own flawed understanding and abilities that we stumble and fall. We sadly make life worse for ourselves and for others in our spheres by our own poor choices. We really don’t want to go there.
"Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ." A.W. Tozer
2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:2-4 (NIV)
“Every revelation of God is a demand, and the way to knowledge of God is by obedience.”
William Temple