“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.” Song of Solomon 8:6
I cannot love without obedience following, and I will not obey unless there is love. I have to be able to trust in order for there to be love. If I have a strong relationship with someone that I trust, then I am very willing to obey them. If I do not have trust in them it will be hard to believe them. Disbelief brings about fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear makes me move away from someone. Faith brings me closer.
The end product of obedience is holiness and that leads to purity. Purity is a result of my repenting and a serious pursuit of God. Obedience to God’s commands comes directly from my heart. It is out of love and faith that I serve Him. Love is the discipline. Obedience without love is legalism.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His Commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3
A long time ago in my walk with the Lord I one day sat down and connected all these dots. It then all made sense. I understood it to be a chain of events. Once the first part is triggered one leads to the next, to the next, to the next with the end results being a pure, full and rich relationship with the Lord.
Notice the word manifest in the scripture John 14:21. The word manifest means, “To make evident or certain by showing or displaying.” Other versions of the verse use the words show, reveal or disclose. I don’t know about you but I want to see Him. I want His manifested presence in my life.
Love is the greatest motivation for a relationship with God and for serving Him.
“We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Dianna DeYoung Abundant Life 