1 John 5:1-3
1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
The first commandment given to man is found in Genesis 2:17 when God said not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They enjoyed perfect fellowship with God and each other for as long as they chose to obey His commandments and live within the protective boundaries that God had placed. Then when the serpent came in chapter 3 he planted the idea that God was keeping something good back from them. Had God placed a burden on them that would keep them from experiencing all that this life had to offer? So they ate and found out the reason for the commandment as they suffered the consequence for their action. Are we any different? Scripture tells us not to be drunk, but the commercials look like they are having so much fun! God is obviously trying to keep me from enjoying my life! So we eat of the tree and suffer the consequence. God tells us not to lie, but He just doesn’t understand the pressures we are under, right? So we eat of the tree, and suffer the consequence. His law is not to cause us grief and keep us from experiencing life! It is to protect us and keep us in fellowship with Him so we can truly enjoy our time on this earth without the heartaches that come with sin.
In John 14:15 Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. We will live in His word. Then John also says that our love for God is demonstrated in how we keep His commandments. Keeping His word shows that we trust Him to know what is best for us. It shows our dependence on Him to guide us and protect us from the dangers and pitfalls of sin. His word isn’t a burden, it is proof of His love for you and for me! In my years as a youth pastor I watched parents allow their children to act however they wanted as they grew up with few, if any, boundaries. They rationalized that they were allowing their children to enjoy all of these experiences rather than burden them with rules. Then when the child was an out of control teen they would come to me and ask for help. They were seeing first hand the consequences of living outside of the boundaries of God’s word. We can discuss illustration after illustration that proves the point that we don’t like boundaries! Speed limit signs are more of a suggestion than a law. Stop signs turn to yield signs when we don’t see a police officer around. We look at all of these as burdens that are just slowing us down rather than things to keep us safe.
To often we look at God’s word the same way. Where it says stop, we yield a little and then keep right going. Too many times it is only when we are on the ground, broken and bloodied by the wreck we have just been in because of our sin that we see the wisdom in the commandment and wish we had just done what God told us to.
Today as we ReFocus our hearts and minds on Christ let’s change the way we look at God’s commandments. Rather than a list if rules to control us, His word sets boundaries to protect us and keep us from the results of sin. His commandments are not grievous, they are given by His Grace and when we choose to trust that God knows best we are showing our love for Him.
