Action Love
As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
(John 15:9, NKJV)
The language of love is understood round the world and needs no words. Yes, different communities and peoples have words and a way of expressing love, but it has also been proven that even without words, love can be understood. Take a look at dogs or cats in the home, they do not speak human language but they snug and curl around for affection. It is clear to them when they have a connection with an individual, a relationship of love and honour and which they reciprocate to in their own way. No words need to be spoken, at times it is just the look in their eyes that tell you that they connect affectionately. These pets help us know the power of presence, just being there communicates acceptance and fondness. Love is one great gift that we give to each other, being cared for and in turn caring for another. For love to flourish and satisfy, we actively give and receive, it has to be reciprocated. Just as the power of love moves us to great lengths of action, the pain of an unreciprocated love is equally deep as a strong sense of betrayal and rejection is experienced. This speaks to the centrality of love in our lives as it gives us confidence by knowing that we are accepted and even wanted. Love calls us to act in ways that do not hurt the object of our affection, we seek to please those that we love. As believers, love is fundamental to our faith, our Lord Jesus came to earth and died on the cross out of love.
Our reference verse is Jesus speaking of His love for the Father, His love for us and He implores us to stay in His love. He does not just love us but desires that we stand in His love, the bonds of our relationship with Him are love. When Jesus was on earth, He demonstrated His obedience to the Father by doing and saying only what He heard and saw of His Father (John 5:19). The love Jesus had for His Father, made obeying the Father easy. Jesus’ obedience to the Father was not just when things were easy but He took it all the way to the cross. Beloved, obedience is not a word we hear of often, as many want to do everything their own way. In many places, obedience is frowned upon being seen as a sign of weakness. That is the way of the world, but as believers in Jesus Christ, we cannot ignore the call to obey our Master and King. We obey His word because we understand that He emptied Himself for us all because of love, and in return, we choose to love Him back. The word tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). Thankfully, Jesus made it plain for us that our obedience is the mark of our love for Him. This is not unique to us, those who went before us also showed their measure of love to God. Abraham our father of faith walked with God through obedience. When God gave Abraham the covenant of being a father of nations, Abraham sealed the covenant by circumcising all the males in his household including himself (Genesis 17:23-27). Brethren, this was not an easy or convenient act of obedience, circumcising all the men including himself at 99 years of age was an uphill task, but Abraham chose to obey God in spite of how awkward it seemed. God does not call us to only convenient obedience but to total obedience, all we know is that He has a reason for the seemingly inconvenient. At a time when king Saul tried to equate his sacrifices to obedience, prophet Samuel clarified that to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Could it be that when we offer sacrifices, we give things while in obedience, we give of ourselves? Just a thought. God is more interested in us and the salvation of our souls and less interested in the things that He Himself has entrusted to us. Beloved, even when we are tempted to obey our flesh, may we find the strength of faith to choose to obey God’s leading. Our obedience is our response to His love.
Thoughts:
What does obedience to God mean to you?
In what areas is your obedience challenged?
What has been your experience of obeying God?