Do You Love Jesus?

Do You Love Jesus?:

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one‘s life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you..”  (John 15:12-14) 

Do you love Jesus? Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). A good measuring stick for how much you love Jesus is how willing you are to keep His commandments. First John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” Does that last statement sound incredible to you? There are some Christians would disagree with it and say, “But God’s commandments ARE a burden. It’s so hard to keep them.” Would you give me an opportunity to prove that statement wrong? I believe that when we have a right understanding of the purposes of God’s commandments in our life, that you will find they are no longer a burden, but a joy. Read on…  

1.         God’s commandments are for our good

“And the Lord commanded us to observe all these (commandments), to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.” (Deut. 6:24). The commandments God gave to us are not to keep us from having fun – they’re for our good, so that He can preserve us alive. As our loving Heavenly Father, God gives us commandments to keep us from danger and death. When we disobey God and break His commandments, we are sinning, and the Bible says that the consequences for our sin is spiritual death (Romans 6:23). So when God tells us not to sin, it’s to protect us from danger. I can understand this aspect of God’s nature because I am the father of four children. As their dad, I give them rules to protect them from danger. For example, one of the rules I have for my children is: look both ways before you cross the street. Why? Because I know that if they don’t, and a car is speeding along, it could kill them.  God is just like that – He gives us rules for our good, to preserve us alive. We may not understand them, but when we obey them, we can count on His protection. 

2.         When we keep His commandments, Jesus will make Himself known to us

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21). Here again Jesus reminds us that keeping His commandments is a sign that we really love Him. And one of the rewards for keeping His commands is that both Jesus and the Father will love us, and Jesus will make Himself known to us – what a GREAT blessing. 

3.         When we keep His commandments, we will remain in Jesus’ love

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love…” (John 15:10). If you want to remain in His love, and have a constant sense and awareness of His presence, keep His commandments. 

4.         When we keep His commandments, we show that we really know Jesus

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.” (1 John 2:3-5).   

Do you know Jesus? The Bible says if we REALLY know Him, we will keep His commands. We should be willing to obey His commandments just because He is God – He’s our Creator, our Lord, our Saviour – and that gives Him the authority to tell us how to live. The Bible also tells us that there are some very practical benefits to keeping His commandments. When we obey God’s Word, it is for our own good.  Jesus will make Himself known to us, and we will remain in His love. And finally, keeping His commandments will show both Him and the world that you know Him – and you love Him.

Pastor Chris Jordan
www.beausejourchurch.ca