I have a one-year-old daughter, and it often feels like every day is the same lesson in obedience over and over again. As her parent, I have a deep desire for her to be an obedient child who honors and respects the direction she has been given. With this desire, I also feel a tension as I seek to teach her. I don’t want her doing these things because she wants to please me but because she loves me and has a desire to honor what I say.
God’s heart for His children is the same, although perfect unlike mine! He desires the obedience of children who love Him. But not only does He desire it, He expects it because He knows that a rightly ordered love for God will result in obedience to Him.
God’s Word Enables Our Love and Obedience
We have seen the Father’s love for us through Jesus, the Son, coming to us (John 14:18). Through the Spirit, we are enabled to know and experience this love, which causes us to love Him.
John 14 shows us that, by His grace, God has equipped us to live a life of obedience and devotion to Him, not dependent on our own strength or ability. We have been given the Word of God (14:21) which reveals to us the heart and the way of God.
It is His divine Word written to us; therefore, we are able to have the wisdom to discern what He requires of us. We also have the Spirit (14:16-17) who reveals to us what this Word says, while also convicting and correcting us as we seek to walk in God’s will. If we love God, we will keep His commands. And we are able to do this through the resources God has given us to walk with Him.
Aligning Our Lives to His Word
This order of love flowing to obedience is also an act of God’s kindness to us as it helps us to stay in the path He has called us to. As we walk through our Christian lives, we can use our desire to honor God and be obedient to Him as a gauge of our love for Him.
If we find ourselves struggling to honor God and be obedient to His Word, then it is likely that something else has replaced our love for Him. We are desiring other things more than we are the Lord. And again, through His Word and His Spirit we are able to come back to the love we have for Him!
Not only is it right to live in this way, but there is great blessing in being obedient. This blessing is not a reward for following God’s commands but a byproduct of a life devoted to Him and His Word. We experience the fullness of God as we live in alignment with His Word. Others are blessed by God through our lives as we live out in accordance to God’s Word, which brings Him glory!
Living in A Way That Results in Blessing
I believe my daughter will live a blessed life as she lives one in obedience to the direction she has been given. As a result, it will also be a blessing to others as she lives in this way. This is not because she is rewarded for her obedience but because she is living in a way that results in blessing.
The truth of this passage is good news for the believer, but these words are also a witness to friends and family who do not know Christ. When they see a life that is committed to the ways of the Lord, they will see where our love and devotion lies. This leads non-believers to be drawn to the Lord through the work of His Spirit as they watch our lives.
