September 15th

September 15th -- John 14:15-31

Read the passage, please!

"If you love me, obey my commandments." "All who love me will do what I say."
How many times do we hear people call themselves Christian, then act in any way but what that should mean? Often, right? Or more often than it should happen, at the very least. Now, you're probably wondering how that relates, right? That's not technically saying "I love God/Jesus" then acting like they don't, right? Wrong. Claiming to be Christian is claiming to know and love Christ. Meaning, if we are claiming that, we should be following his commandments, too. To the best of our abilities, at least (we obviously can't always, because we all sin sometimes - otherwise we wouldn't have needed Christ in the first place). I think that obeying God or not obeying God is one of the true tests of being a Christian. It tends to make me think of Paul and James. Paul preached that all you had to do was accept Christ and you would be saved. It always seemed like James was totally disagreeing when he said that you had to also obey his commandments and basically let your life glorify him, because merely belief on its own was not enough. See, they're actually both right. James was not trying to say Paul was wrong, but merely expanding on what Paul suggested. When one accepts Christ - truly accepts Christ - it should be followed by obeying God's commands and living their life for His glory. So, the two ideas actually marry, really. Those who truly love Christ will obey his commandments.

Have you been acting like you love or hate him lately?
God bless! Shalom!