Let Us Do What Jesus DidSýnishorn

When you love God you obey Him as Jesus did

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he

it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be

loved by my Father, and I will love him

and manifest myself to him.”

The point of spiritual life is not knowledge, but obedience. The goal is not that we know Jesus’s commands, but that we do Jesus’s commands, that we obey Jesus’s commands.

Why is obedience so vital to God? It’s simple. Obedience to God shows our love for God. If I truly love God, then I will want to please him. I’ll want to obey him. It won’t be drudgery but a delight.

If you love someone who is an equal, a fellow human being, then that love will always be expressed through servanthood. We will want to serve that person and meet their needs if we can. It’s just natural.

But when it comes to loving God, someone who is above us, then that love will always be expressed in obedience. It’s just natural. We will want to please God. This does not mean that obedience is easy—some of God’s commands are tough. But our deepest heart is to obey

God, even when it is neither convenient nor comfortable. Now here’s the good part. When we obey God, when our settled attitude is to obey him no matter what, what happens? Jesus gives us stunning promises: The Father will love us. Jesus will love us. Jesus will show himself to us.

But wait a minute. Doesn’t God already love us? Yes, he does. He loves us perfectly. Infinitely. Unconditionally.

But God holds in his heart a special tenderness, a special closeness, a special intimacy for his children who long to please him.

A.W. Tozer put it well when he purportedly said, “God doesn’t have favorites, but he does have intimates.” God’s intimates are those who obey him because they love him.

The Father pours out his Spirit on those who obey. The Father pours out his love on those who obey. The Father draws close to those who obey. The Father reveals himself to those who obey.

There is a road that leads into the very heart of God. Only those who obey God, only those who lovingly obey God, will travel that road.