John 14: 21
"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."
The Lord said, "The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." The Lord would show himself to those who love him. What is it to love God? The Chinese would associate it with offerings or serving the churches. Just like the father that asked his wife in the movie "Fiddler on the roof": "Do you love me?" The baffled wife replied, "I cook, do laundry for you." The husband was not satisfied, asked again, "Do you love me?" His wife was getting impatient, "I give birth and raise your children?" But his question remained unanswered, so he asked again, "Do you love me?"
I believe the sisters among us would have a better grasp of the situation that I mentioned. Love is not what you do for each other; what is important is whether you focus on each other. Very often we busy ourselves serving God like Martha, but losing the better blessings, of sitting before God to look upon Him and listen to His words. Brothers and sisters, do you love God? More precisely, how much time do you spend with Him? Imagine the lovers; they like to spend their time glued together, so they build up their relationships. Similarly, if we want the Lord to show himself to us, we have to love God, spend time to get close to Him.
Here the Lord explains very clearly that loving God is keeping His commands. Not just having the commands, but to keep them. Samuel told Saul in 1 Sam 15:22: "To obey is better than sacrifice," sacrifice is easy, your 10% offering is indeed the tithe, it's over once it's done, but to obey is from our hearts. Are we willing to yield to Jesus Christ more than our hearts' desire? The Lord said, "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me." In other words, love has actions, we cannot just sit in the church to sing "Lord I love you", yet doing nothing in our lives.
Brothers and sister, are your love of God visible? Or it remains only with your words, not in your actions and in truth? God, help us to love Him and to obey His commands. Once we obey His commands, He will show Himself to us! Do you wish the Lord to show Himself to you? Beginning today, ask God to help us to spend time getting close to Him every day, waiting for Him, looking upon Him, hearing His voices, and willing to obey His words!
Pray with Pastor Tong
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