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.
What are the commands that Jesus has given us? How many of them are there? Are they hard? Are they difficult? What does he want us to do?
These questions can be a little confusing for those of us who are not Jewish. Jesus was born a Jew. The Jews of Jesus’ day were the chosen people of God. Their history was rich with traditions and replete with all kinds of rules and commands. Much of the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees is a very technical debate over rules and regulations.
But Jesus is here on earth to institute a new agreement between God and mankind. The old agreement, or covenant, has run its course. There is nothing left of it but a tattered worn out prayer shawl. The Israelites have turned against God even when they claim to be doing His will.
In John 13:34 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This command to love is really the sum of his commands. In essence, there are no others. Love one another.
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And you neighbor as yourself.
The first is easy if you get all the idols out of the way. The second is easy if you get all the people out of the way.
So, maybe not so easy…
😉
Have a great Monday guys!
-Brent
LOL!
Brent, thanks for the smile! Blessings!!
Well said Brent. I agree. Simple, but not easy. Loving God and one another sums up the intent of all the OT commands and thus fulfills the law of love. It is a beautiful law, but actually hard to achieve. Jesus did it completely, and we still need His power and help to fulfill it ourselves.
Or, as the backwoods prophet once said, “Thank God for God!” Without him we are helpless.
I think one of Satans most effective methods in spiritual warfare is disrupting the love of believers – not that we don’t struggle without his interference! One, if not the chief objection to Christianity is the hypocrisy and mean spiritedness of Christians.
Nathan,
I think another tool that Satan makes use of is mentioned in Matthew 7: 1-5. Jesus talks about taking the speck out of our own eye. The speck, while small, hides many things from sight, and so people appear to be a hypocrite even while sincerely believing they are in the right. It is very difficult living as a finite being in a temporal cage.