Psalm 91:14-16 says, "The Lord says, 'I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.'" God teaches us through the Bible that love is the foundation of obedience. We obey God because we love Him. It is more than an obligation to obey God. Our motive to obey God is to express our love for Him. The religious leaders during the time of the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus focused on obeying the Law to be accepted by God. They wanted to prove that they were worthy to be accepted by God based on their performance in obeying the Law. However, deep inside their hearts, they did not understand the loving relationship between God and His children. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because God first loved us." The reason we love God is because He first demonstrated His love for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus unconditionally died for our sins because He loved us. Before we believed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He had already died for our sins and was resurrected from the dead.
A good example of our loving relationship with God is the relationship between a father and his child. There is a deep emotional bond between the father and his child. The father loves His child, and the child loves his father. The child follows and obeys his father because of love. On the contrary, a servant follows and obeys his master because of obligations. Before I believed in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I always feared God because I didn't understand His love for me. I obey God because of obligation. I thought that if I obeyed Him, He would bless me, and if I disobeyed Him, He would discipline me. All these changed when someone told me about the love of Jesus Christ towards me. When I believed in Jesus as my Lord and Savior and began to understand God through the Bible, I learned my loving relationship with God. The more I understood how much God loved me, the more I wanted to please and obey Him. I was no longer trying to be accepted by God because of His love towards me. God accepted me not because of my performance but because of my loving relationship with Him through my faith in the Lord Jesus.
I don't doubt that God will take care of me because He promised that those who love Him will be secure in His loving arms. There is only one way to experience God's love in our lives. We have to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and understand God through His Word, the Bible.
Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What is my motive in obeying God? Why is it important to understand my loving relationship with God? How can I have a loving relationship with God?
Take a moment to write down all your worries today. Then, lift them up to God in prayer, surrendering them to His will and trusting in His guidance.
Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding me today that my obedience should be motivated by my love for you. Please continue to help me understand your love for me so that I may continue to love you more. Thank you for loving me. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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