It is so easy to say, “Lord, I love you.” But how many of us prove our love for Him. Jesus tells us in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (NASB) When most of us imagine acts of love, obedience is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But there it is. If you love Me . . . you will obey.
“But Lord I would rather . . .” Obey Me. “But wouldn’t it be better to do it this way?” Obey Me. “Lord, You couldn’t really mean for me to do that?” Obey Me. Throughout God’s Word, we are given promises that obedience will bring blessings. Why do we stubbornly refuse to obey and forfeit the blessings God wants to bestow upon us? We are like the children of Israel who, over and over again, lived for a while in obedience which brought blessings, only to turn away from God in disobedience and worshipping idols which brought destruction. We are witnessing the same thing happening in our nation today. Though we were founded as a Christian nation, we have come to a time when the majority of Americans have no regard for God and worship every kind of “idol” imaginable, an idol being anything or anyone that we hold in a higher place in our hearts than God.
Psalm 33:12 tells us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” We have been the most blessed nation on earth for some time; but now that America, for the most part, has turned away from God, we are seeing the destroying hand of the enemy moving across our nation.
I believe if America could hear God’s heart today, He would be saying, Turn back to Me. Love Me. Obey Me. And I will restore you, just as I did the children of Israel so many times.
We as God’s children need to act first. Even those of us who say we love Him many times fail to obey Him. We have lost our first love and need to repent and do our first works over. (Revelation 2:4-5) If the fire of love for God would be rekindled on the altars of our hearts, what a difference we could make in this world. A passionate love for God would change our actions. Instead of living in our self-indulgent lifestyles, we would obey. Our first priority would be to reach out to those who need to know the Lord, rather than making sure all of our own desires are met.
Father, before it is too late, help us to turn away from worthless pursuits. Draw us unto Yourself. Teach us to love You. Teach us to obey.
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