A Word on Obedience

 Most simply put God says,"If you love me keep my commandments."  To God love and obedience are the same, but how can that be?  My conclusion is that God wants us to believe him with all that we are and all that we have completely in word and deed.  God is saying "give my wisdom a chance; trust in me and have faith."  God wants our trust, and trust,which is the launching point for faith,  is one of those factors that can make or break a relationship.  In order to enter any relationship I have to believe that the other person can be trusted to know me closely.  To love someone is to deeply invest myself emtionally, spiritually, mentally, and possibly financially in another person in a way that shows my belief that they are worthy, committing to give a higher level of clearance to them and  taking a leap of faith that they can be trusted to handle my gift of love with care.  It takes trust to do that.  Love is not simply enjoying someone or something greater than other people or things because love is not self focused.  Love means making sacrifices for someone else's gain; it means taking low so that I can show how valuable someone is to me.  God is saying "show how valuable I am to you. trust me enough to do what I am telling you no matter what you see and then watch me as  I multiply your investment of faith."

So why would anyone love God like this?   God is worthy of this level of love because God has always kept his promises, and God loved us first.  God believed in us so much that he sent Jesus to come and die for us so that he could secure a place in heaven for us if we would trust in his tale of sin and redemption, and accept his gift of salvation. He did all of that before any of us were born, but he loved us already and took low to give us the opportunity for eternity with him.  I think I could do a better job of obeying someone who cared for me that much.  A god who suffered, died, and rose again for me deserves my trust, respect, admiration, and adoration.  To accept a relationship with God is to place my trust in him, to trust him is to believe him, to believe God is to obey him, and to obey God is to love him. 

I could barely handle this but hopefully you can get it.  In the Bible it talks about faith, hope, and charity.  Can you see these three working in my relationship process that I just stated?  To trust God is hope, to obey God is faith, and to love God is charity.  The greatest thing anyone can do for God is obey him. In this we show God glory, honor, and love.  "And above all put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Colossians 3:14 


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