“If you love me, you will obey what I
command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to
be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (John 14:15-18)
Three
thoughts from this morning’s passage. The first is that loving Jesus isn’t an
easy, breezy feeling of a fluttering heart. It means obedience…voluntary
slavery. It doesn’t matter what the command it, or whether you agree with it or
not. If He says something is right, it’s right. If He says it’s wrong, it’s
wrong. We are to follow His example, period. That might seem harsh, but He’s
God. He designed and created all that we know and have, and therefore He knows
best how they should all function together. To claim that we know better or
that He doesn’t understand is to reject His godhood. That’s not loving Him.
The second thought is that the world rejects God. That is the natural state for people. If you accept what the world, what society teaches, you’re not loving God. I’ve heard several variations on “But the Bible was written thousands of years ago, it is no longer relevant. It wasn’t meant to address our world today.” As I consider history, the times when the Church has done the most good are the times when it was separated from the world and did not do things the way the world does them. The times when the Church has done the least good – or done evil – are the times when it has followed the world’s example for how to do things. People complain about the Crusades and the Inquisition. Both of those were the Church applying the methods common to the nations of the time.
The third thought is that when we obey, when we move closer to Christ and His teachings and further from the world, that’s when we are most likely to recognize His closeness to us. He will not leave us, even if we feel left. As I think about the past couple days, I have to admit, that I have felt left. When Dad is too disconnected to function and therefore making demands, and the dog wants something, I start to feel abandoned. That’s when I need to remember this passage.
The second thought is that the world rejects God. That is the natural state for people. If you accept what the world, what society teaches, you’re not loving God. I’ve heard several variations on “But the Bible was written thousands of years ago, it is no longer relevant. It wasn’t meant to address our world today.” As I consider history, the times when the Church has done the most good are the times when it was separated from the world and did not do things the way the world does them. The times when the Church has done the least good – or done evil – are the times when it has followed the world’s example for how to do things. People complain about the Crusades and the Inquisition. Both of those were the Church applying the methods common to the nations of the time.
The third thought is that when we obey, when we move closer to Christ and His teachings and further from the world, that’s when we are most likely to recognize His closeness to us. He will not leave us, even if we feel left. As I think about the past couple days, I have to admit, that I have felt left. When Dad is too disconnected to function and therefore making demands, and the dog wants something, I start to feel abandoned. That’s when I need to remember this passage.
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