Day 13: Love Means Obedience. Today’s challenge lent itself very nicely to an elongated quiet time with God. Delving into this idea that love means obedience was such a good reminder. We see this theme over and over in scripture, not only through the passages in today’s challenge but through stories such as Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. We see person after person follow God even if they don’t know what exactly that will mean for them or how He will provide.
The verse that spoke to me the most tonight is one that God has actually placed on my heart many times in the last few months. John 15: 9-10:
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
Over and over, God has been telling me “remain in me.” I have seen Him whisper those words to me through various studies, sermons, and just my quiet prayer time with Him. And how do I learn to remain in Him? By obeying His commands. Love means obedience. I think this statement is largely born out of the nature of trust. If you love someone, you generally trust them. In the same way, if we love God we will trust God. It takes a lot of trust sometimes to follow God’s commands and to seek out His will for your life; and sometimes this is a daily thing. In Luke 9, Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.” (emphasis mine). We have to choose every single day if we are going to be obedient to our creator or not.
