We live in a society that places a great value on personal autonomy and freedom. Having traveled to many parts of the world where there are fewer personal freedoms I deeply appreciate what we have. However, those who choose to follow Christ have declared their willingness to live by the ethics, standards, teaching, and truth of His Kingdom. 

This is how the Apostle John puts it. “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6).

Notice that John says that our love for God is made complete as we obey His word. Obedience is the sign of our love for Him. To obey Him is to love Him. This is not about earning His favor - we already have that if we believe. It is about intentionally aligning our life with His as taught in His word. 

John says that “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7). 

Loving God, like loving those we are close to is always an act of the will. God demonstrated His love toward us by sending His son to die for us. That was an act of the will. It was a hard love. It was a sacrificial love. On our part, and in response to His love for us and His call for us to live in the light, rather than in the darkness, we choose to obey. That too is an act of our own will as we intentionally align our lives with His even when it is hard for us to do. Thus John says, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:6).

What is sin? It is going our own way and doing our own thing. The prophet Isaiah put it this way, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” (Isaiah 53:6). If sin is going my own way, obedience is choosing to go the way of God as taught in His word. Remember, to love Him is to obey him and the closer we walk with Him the better we get to know Him. Obedience is the key to understanding God and to fellowship with Him because it aligns our hearts with His heart and pleases Him. 

Father, I want to love you so much better than I often do. Help me to deeply desire obedience, even when it is hard, so that my fellowship with you is deeper and more intimate. Thank you for your amazing love for me. Help me live in amazing love for you today through my obedience. Amen