John 14:15-17
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, ..., to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."
Originally Published: Monday, May 9, 2016Scroll Down Arrow
Peyton Manning recently retired after a hall of fame career as a professional football quarterback. At his retirement press conference, with tears in his eyes, Manning described the motivation for his success in this way:
"... every moment, every drop of sweat, every bleary-eyed night of preparation, every note I took and every frame I watched was about one thing, reverence for the game."
More and more, I hope to follow Jesus out of this same kind of reverence—not out of fear of what will happen if I don't. Not out of grim-faced obligation but out of love.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Something quite extraordinary happens when we obey Jesus.
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
What happens when this Spirit of truth begins to work in us? For years, I've ridden a bike for exercise. As with anything I try, I'm usually in it all the way. Once, I had to share a stretch of four-lane road with 18-wheel trucks. I promise you that there's something wonderful and heavenly about being passed by an 18-wheeler going 60 miles per hour. The passing truck creates a kind of vacuum that takes hold of you like huge hands on your shoulders and pulls you along. Effortless exhilaration!
Something like that happens when you love God and keep his commandments. You give it your maximum effort, and then something inexplicable and wonderful happens that helps you go much further than you ever could have on your own.
Jesus will not force you to obey because love doesn't insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5). But if you choose to obey, the Spirit of truth will take hold of you and magnify your effort. It's the unexpected element of loving faithfulness. The outcome exceeds the sum of your effort.
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:
What percentage of your obedience is motivated by fear? Duty? Love? Why doesn't love insist on its own way? What element of obedience is particularly difficult for you right now?
PRAYER:
Lord God, since your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, following you can sometimes be difficult. Search my heart, explore my thoughts, and reveal to me the places I am at cross-purposes with you. Teach me to trust you to be the wind at my back as I endeavor to be obedient to you. Amen.
READ THE PASSAGE IN CONTEXT:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
"I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way."
