Topic: In Actions [Saturday, 6th May 2017]
If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15
Love, they say, is a deep feeling of affection and commitment one has towards another. Now, love for someone, as well as we all know, propels us to want to be around that person, listen to them, and all the stuffs that comes with affectionate commitment. Love also propels us to want to do according to the words of our lover, to please them. We also in turn want them to please us by doing according to our words. Now, if you’ve ever been in a romantic relationship, and your partner always claimed love for you, but never did anything you said, you can witness to the fact that it was quite frustrating and tiring, and then at one point you may have even asked them if they truly loved you.
Funny how the very things we complain of our earthly partners are what we are guilty of with our Heavenly Father. We all proclaim love for God. If we take a survey, and ask 1000 persons (Christians) how much they love God, I can bet you 99.9999% of them would say “more than anything”. No surprise there. But if we checked their lives to see their actions towards the One they love, a lot is left to be desired.
Now this character of love that involves doing according to the desires of your lover has been shown time and again by Love Himself. In Exodus 16, God gave the children of Israel manna because they hungered, and desired to eat. In Matthew 11:28, He calls upon His beloved who labour, to come receive rest Him. In John 16:23, Christ reassures us that whatever we ask in His name, the Father will surely do. Now the Father has shown His love through His actions. The onus is now on us, who claim to love Him, to show our love through our actions. In John 14:15, Christ tells us plainly that if we love Him, we should keep His commandments. Clearly our love cannot end on our lips, we have to show it by doing His commandments.
What are His commandments:
John 21:16 – Feed his sheep.
Mark 16:15 – Preach the gospel.
John 13:34 – Love one another.
John 10:4-5 – Follow His Voice.
John 15:1-5 –
Abide in (Rely on) Him.
Love Him truly, and enjoy the benefits thereof.
Keep winning daily .
Prayer:
Dear Father, thank You for Your unfailing love. Help me Father to always show my love for You in my actions, and not merely with my words always, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
By Esun Tekeme