John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

You do not need a commentary here to get the meaning of this scripture verse. Jesus was talking to His disciples when He was here on earth and made a statement to them or better yet a command and said…..if you love me then do what I ask you to do and follow my commands. The very first word of this statement really gives me the chills….IF! Jesus of course knew that they loved them…but when I hear that “ if”…it makes my brain say….you know you love Him so do what He says do.

They were men and just took it without questioning Jesus, but if I were there I would have whined to Jesus and said “ Jesus you know I love you…why did you say if Jesus…Jesus I really do love you….Jesus don’t you know that because you’re God…Jesus…Jesus.

Jesus probably would have thrown His hands up and shouted..…”oy vey!!!” All kidding aside there is a purpose for the if. The if is attached to the command….keep my commands…..our love for Jesus should inspire us to want to obey Him. There are so many scriptures in the bible that tell us to be obedient to God’s word. (I’m no bible teacher here…just a blogger…you know the drill …do your own study LOL)

It seems to be very important to the Lord that we follow the commandments that God has laid out for us. It’s not for God’s benefit so He can keep us all in line…but it’s for our benefit ……we will be more like Jesus…..we will lead a holy sanctified life. This is God’s plan and purpose for us. We will please God IF we keep the commandments. Others will see Jesus in us and that will make us available for the Holy Spirit to use us to be a witness. Again IF we love Jesus…and we know we do.

You know people don’t like that word obey anymore…kids don’t want to obey their parents…people don’t want to obey the law of the land i.e. driving and texting, stopping at a red light etc. And in this generation women have even removed the word obey from their marriage vows.

Well I will tell you with 100% certainty that obey will not be taken out of the bible…ever! So we better get with Jesus program and keep His commands. Now Jesus is not forcing us to do this……we are doing it why?…….You got it….because WE LOVE HIM!

Many years ago I had a job at Macy’s and I followed and obeyed the commands of that job….not because I loved Macy’s, but because I loved getting paid. That was my motivation. My motivation for obeying Jesus is …because I love Him. I pray this is your motivation too.

Now about loving Jesus…..we are so thankful to Him for His sacrifice on the cross…but have we gotten to really know our brother…our best friend. How can you love someone very deeply and be motivated to obey their every command? There are three ways to accomplish this…..bible study, worship and prayer. The ability to connect with these things is through the power of the Holy Spirit. When you spend time in these things daily you can’t help but love Jesus madly. Even trials help us get closer to the Lord.

I have a challenge for you today……I want you to tell Jesus as often as you can today how much you love Him…..pretend you hear Him whispering in your ear saying….Do you love me …Do you love me _______(fill in your name here). Meditate on these scripture verses: John 15:9-11 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Our love for Jesus must steadily grow and that comes from building a relationship with Jesus, loving Him so much that you break out your alabaster box and pour your precious oil of love and praise on Him. The result of you doing this will be your heart wanting to always obey His commands. God because He is God can never love us more because He already loves us perfectly 100% always and forever. We are mortals so we have to constantly nurture our love by fellowshipping and worshipping with the Lord. Constant interaction is necessary for any relationship we have whether it be marriage, friendship, or family.

Message for today: The more you love Jesus…the more you will want to obey His commands.