Tag Archives: commandments

Who Do You Love?

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WHO DO YOU LOVE?

As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone. You know the commandments: you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’

‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these things I have kept since I was a boy.’ Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ He said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth (Mark 10: 17-22).

We know this story so well, don’t we? And we judge the rich man for throwing away an opportunity to have eternal life.

Around Jesus were twelve men who had given up everything to follow Him. When He called them, they walked away from the old lives and started a new life with Him. I’m sure there was no doubt about the sincerity of this young man. Whatever he understood by the term, “eternal life”, he wanted it. Don’t we all? No one wants to go to the grave not knowing where he is going.

There are many theories and beliefs about the afterlife depending on the religion a person subscribes to – oblivion for the atheist, nirvana, purgatory, all the sensual pleasure you want, and so one. This man wanted the security of knowing that he possessed eternal life so that he could get on with enjoying his life of wealth and ease. Perhaps he imagined that one noble action would provide him with that security.

His so-called “clean” life obviously didn’t give him that assurance. There was still uncertainty and a restlessness in his soul. In spite of assuring Jesus that he had kept the commandments Jesus quoted, something was missing.

Did Jesus use the commandments to stir up guilt in this young man’s conscience? He didn’t question his honesty. “How can you say you have kept the commandments? Don’t you understand that your motives are just as important as your behaviour? You can’t possibly be perfect by obeying the rules. What about the sin in your heart?” He said none of these things because they were not the real issue.

What was the real issue? The real issue was “Who or what do you love?” Jesus did not even mention the greatest commandment, contained in the Shema – the creed a devout Jew would recite several times a day because that was the crux of the matter.

Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut. 6:4-5).

How could He probe the young man’s inner being? His wealth! What about his money? What he did with his money would be a mirror of his heart.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matt. 6: 24).

Jesus used a literary device called a chiasm which was used for emphasis. His main point was sandwiched between two statements leading up to the central statement. It would look like this:

  1. No one can serve two masters.
  2. Either you will hate the one and serve the other or

B1.You will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

A1.You cannot serve both God and money

Points A and A1 are saying the same thing. Points B and B1 are the central and most important statement.

Jesus put His finger on the one thing, the most important thing he lacked – love for God. What he did with his money was the clue. “Get rid of it!” Jesus told him. “It is the one thing that stands between you and me.” In a bold statement Jesus told him, “Follow me, and I will take you to the Father.”

The young man walked away and that response to Jesus’ invitation said it all. What about you? What comes between you and loving God with all your heart, soul and strength?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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A Legacy Restored

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A LEGACY RESTORED 

“‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that you joy may be complete.'” John 15:9-11 NIV.

Up to this point Jesus had not spoken of His love for His disciples; only His love for the Father displayed by His obedience to His Father’s commands. It was this love between the Father and the Son which kept Jesus steadfast and secure through all the tests of His humanity, tests which were ultimately about who and what He valued the most.

In the midst of the turmoil the disciples were experiencing, Jesus was now giving them the anchors which would hold them steady when their boats rocked in the storm. Their security lay in their confidence in His presence, in His Word and in His love. To remain meant to be sure of and to be true to those things that would not change in their changing circumstances.

When Adam and Eve chose their own way in the Garden of Eden, they forfeited the union with God which secured them in His presence, in His love and in His joy. What they had at the beginning was replaced by a sense of loss, insecurity and fear. They had forfeited their source of strength, provision and protection in God and were driven from the garden to make their own way, alienated from God and left to their own devices.

The world is a very insecure place. Because the majority of mankind had rejected God and His way and substituted their own, they are left anchorless and rudderless in the storms of life. Human beings foolishly put their confidence in things that have no lasting substance — money, relationships, achievements, position and status, and even images of their own creation, be they made out of materials or imagination.

Jesus had clearly demonstrated in the three and a half years they had known Him that He had security in the Father’s love that could not be duplicated by anyone or anything else. Now He was offering the same security to them if they would risk everything by believing what He said and throwing themselves onto Him.

This was the only way for them to receive what Adam and the human race after him had lost — God’s joy, the sense of delight, pleasure and well-being that comes from living in perfect harmony with God’s nature and will. David made this discovery centuries before as he lived his life in pursuit of God: “You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11 NKJV.

How did the disciples receive yet another revelation of truth from Jesus at this time of turmoil and confusion? Even if it made no sense to them then, He was once again sowing the seeds of truth into their spirits that would come alive when the Holy Spirit invaded their lives at Pentecost and brought the understanding they lacked at that moment. Perhaps Jesus’ words echoed in their hearts as they witnessed the terrible things that were happening to their Master. Perhaps they even drew comfort from them as they watched Him suffer. He loved them just as the Father loved Him. What did that mean to them?

What do those words mean to you when your world spins out of control? Our natural inclination is to blame God, to hold Him responsible for not intervening to prevent the catastrophes that come suddenly and without warning. We think that God should shelter us from the things that hit others because we belong to Him.

How little we understand of God’s ways! Faith untested remains flabby and useless like muscles that are never used. It is a loving Father who allows the tests that prise our fingers loose from the useless things we hang onto and teaches us to cling to Him because He is the only reliable and immovable one we have in life whose nature and promises are unshakeable. God is for us, not against us. No matter what disasters hit, He is always there and He is always working in them for our good.

Life is lived forward and understood backwards. Only when we look back can we see the path we have walked and the value of the experiences we have walked through. Only if we have chosen to remain in His love can we understand the greatness of that love when we see the outcome of our suffering.

The Father loved the Son and allowed Him to go through death for us. The prophet took a backward look and triumphantly declared: “Yet it pleased the Lord to put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labour of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge my righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:10-12 NKJV.

Friendship with God

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FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD

“‘If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.'” John 14:15-17 NIV.

Talk about intimacy! Jesus described the potential of a relationship with the Trinity that could not possible get more intimate.

What is intimacy? Our minds immediately link intimacy with some kind of physical relationship, don’t they? Cuddling, kissing, even intercourse! But that is not necessarily being intimate. Intimacy simply means fully knowing and being fully known. This is the relationship that exists in the Trinity — no secrets, nothing hidden, no dishonesty, being absolutely open and transparent.

Intimacy in the human sense involves both risk and trust; risk because it means opening up to the other person and risking betrayal; and trust because it believes that, no matter what it reveals, the other person will treasure and hold sacred whatever you reveal of yourself.

Jesus offered His disciples and He offers us a relationship like that with us, but it has a condition attached — fulfilling our side of what cements unity — obedience.

“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14 NIV.

However, this is not the subservient kind of obedience that does what it is told because, if not, there are consequences. This kind of obedience is built on the love that wants to protect the oneness between us and the Master by not doing anything that would go against what He values.

He offers us, mere humans, the highest form of friendship with Him — friendship with God, mind you, the God who created and rules the universe through the power of His Word; this God said that He would call us friends, just like Abraham was His friend, and like David was a man after His heart — on one condition

“The Lord is friend to those who fear Him. He teaches them His covenant.” Psalm 25:14 NLT.

“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:11-14 NIV.

Jesus promised the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit to those whose love for Him is strong enough to do whatever He requires so that we will not break His heart, not to those who “receive Him so that they can go to heaven when they die!” Like the intimacy He had with His Father, He offers us an intimacy that understands His heart and co-operates with Him to carry out His will on earth through prayer.

“I will ask the Father…” Was this something that Jesus decided on the spur of the moment? I don’t think so. This was part of the plan from the beginning. The first pair lost the intimacy of the Holy Spirit when they disobeyed. Jesus bought back that honour for us by paying the price for our sin, but He still had to co-operate with the Father by asking Him to do what He had already planned to do.

This is the essence of true prayer; not bringing our “grocery lists” of requests to God and wanting “delivery” of the items by next Tuesday, but by getting to know the heart of the Father through intimacy with Him, and expressing our oneness with Him through prayer as we learn what He has already planned to do and then asking Him to do it.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 13:13 NIV. This is not a blank cheque that will get you anything your heart may desire. This is an invitation to share in the glorious work of rebuilding God’s kingdom on earth by hearing the heart of the Father and asking according to the name (the nature and will) of the Son.