In John 14:15, when God says, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments,” this is like saying, if you are hungry you will eat, or…if something is funny, you will laugh.
Loving God is God’s number one and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-38), and God says we “know” a tree by the “fruit” it bears. People like to say, “God knows my heart.” This statement, not always, but often comes after one has knowingly disobeyed God and, in many cases, after someone has pointed it out to them. Yes, God does know our hearts, and here is proof. Jesus says in Matthew 15:19:
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
Our actions show what’s in our hearts. Our actions are “fruit.” Meaning, our willful and repeated actions.
So, Lord Jesus says, a natural thing that happens when you love me, which is my number one and greatest commandment, is you will keep my commandments. That’s a natural thing that happens when you “truly” love me. This is how God, you, and others “know” that you love God. It’s evidence.
Obedience to God is “the fruit,” aka evidence that we truly love Him. And, again, Jesus says, “We know a tree by the fruit it bears” (Matthew 7:16-27). The most important “fruit” according to God’s greatest commandment is obedience; and 1 Samuel 15:22 says that God prefers obedience over burnt offerings and sacrifices.
I’m sharing this message as a loving reminder for God’s people to examine our own hearts truthfully so that on the day we meet our Maker, we won’t unexpectedly hear those frightful words that Jesus has promised many will hear, spoken in Matthew 7:21-23, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who break God’s laws.” (NLT)
God loves you so much and He does not want to see one perish. Not one. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. God is waiting for you. He’s waiting for you to love Him. He already loves you. Though He will not wait forever, if you are still breathing, He’s waiting for you, and nothing you have done matters. He is ready to forgive and forget (Hebrews 8:12).
Repent…out of wisdom and love, because sin is a cancer that only ruins our lives and separates us from God as well as away from peace, joy, purpose, fulfillment, and all the things we need most in life. Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. Scripture doesn’t say seek God’s kingdom when you have time, it says seek ye FIRST (Matthew 6:33).
Eliminate the distractions.
Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, but if you give up your life for me, you will find it” (Matthew 10:39).
If you want to know God and if you want to be saved and to be transformed, and to be made whole and new, accept Jesus, today, as Lord and Savior of your life…
Ask God to help you know Him, and to love Him, and then start reading your Bible, praying, and allowing the Lord to change you, and to heal you, and to lead you.
This is the day you will go from someone who is merely existing, to someone who is truly living.
“Seek me and you will find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). This is a promise.
Jesus says in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…but I have come that you may have life and that you may have it to the full.
As long as you are breathing, it is not too late. We are not waiting on God, He is waiting on us, with arms wide open.