Keep My Commandments

Bill Brinkworth

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

In John Chapter 14, Jesus has made it very clear that those who have believed in God must also believe and obey Jesus’ commands. At least three times in that chapter alone God’s Son urged his followers, that if they really loved Him, they would obey what he commanded. Elsewhere in the Bible, it is commanded at least twenty times to honor and obey what He asks us to do. Obeying God’s commands is one of the most important teachings found in His Word.

Obeying God’s directives is the main purpose God has preserved His written Word for us. The Word does tell us about Moses, the law, Jesus, and quite a bit more, but its main purpose is to provide us a way to know the mind of God. Someone once described the main teaching of the Bible in one word — government! They used ‘government’, because it all boils down to who is going to govern our lives; the flesh, the things of this world, or God!

It is important to God that you heed his commands; so your life will be successful. God knows that not obeying his commands usually leads one to sin; and that all suffer when paying the consequences for their iniquities. Obeying Him will keep us from being hampered by our transgressions. When we are clean from unrighteousness, He can use us the way He desires. God is not just trying to “keep us from having fun”, as more than one young person has told me. Father knows best, and He wants the best for His own. He knows that often the world’s “fun” can lead to suffering in our lives.

People can have much biblical knowledge in their head, but if it just stays there and never alters their life or directs them to follow God’s path, they are on the wrong road. His desire is for us to read, heed, and follow. Too many nod their head in acknowledgment of what the preacher says from the pulpit, but they never make the application from their intellect to their spiritual heart. They leave the church service the same way they came with no changes.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22

That is one of the exciting blessings with working with children. They usually do not have the excuses and laziness of those that are older. When someone shows them what the Bible says, without hesitation, worrying about what others will think, or what they learned in school that contradicts what the Bible says, they come forward and obey. We all need to have the same attitude toward obedience.

Most, without hesitation, agree they should obey what God desires them to do as recorded within the Bible‘s pages. Then what keeps them from obeying it? Usually their reasons for disobedience include:

They are unsaved. The unsaved have a different master and do not have a desire to obey the true God. Even many that claim to be religious are uninterested or do not have a clue as to what His commands even mean.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
They are ignorant of His commands. If people do not read and study the Bible for themselves, they will never have God’s personal message spoken to their heart. Going to church is important, but it is not the pastor’s job to spoon-feed all our knowledge of God’s commands to us. We do have a responsibility in that area to read and study God’s Word.
They are rebellious. Although, certainly harsh, the truth is if we know what God’s Word says about something we are doing or not doing, we are rebelling against God’s commands! Gulp! That certainly seems more vile than our excuses of “I just don’t feel like doing it”, or “Let someone else do it. I’m busy!”
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46

None of us can have any good reason for not obeying God’s Word. He has kept it for us to have just as He did for our forefathers. We have the same roadmap that they had to guide them through life. From it, we can know what God wants us to do in areas of salvation, baptism, service, giving, ministering to Him, selecting friends and spouses, and other godly advice we need to live a godly life. It is all up to us. Will we obey or not? It is that simple!

“A Sunday School teacher once asked her class 'How is the will of God done in heaven?'”
One child answered, “Cheerfully.”
Another, “By everybody.”
A third, “All the time.”
The best answer was, “It is done without asking any questions.”
—D. L. Moody

This lesson was featured in The Bible View #365.

Updated: 8/20/2012