Simple Love

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


I lay my baby down for bed, and am filled with anticipation - free time! As I sink into my chair in the living room, my head begins to fill . . . First I begin to think of all the things that I need to do, and wonder where I should start, and how I will get it all accomplished. This is quickly followed by my mental list of all the things I would like to do - books to read, photo books to fill, stories to write. As I sit there thinking, my chest begins to get tight, and the thoughts start coming faster. Now I am thinking about all the chores I need to accomplish, and errands needing to be run. All this, then, ushers in thoughts of our finances, which are tight, especially with a new baby - it seems we barely have enough money to pay the bills without any of that extra stuff that comes up each month. So, I begin to think about how I should find a part-time job - where to look, and how we can manage it. By this time, I have completely forgone any thought of accomplishing anything - my brain is swimming, my thoughts are spinning ever faster, and I feel faint with anxiety.

It is here that God (somehow) gets my attention, and brings me back to the simplicity of life. He reminds me of all that I need to remember when life seems to overwhelm me beyond all comprehension. He loves me, and I love Him. This life is about our relationship (and, ultimately, how that relationship plays out). He brought me back to the simplest truth that I can hold onto - all I really need to hold onto in moments of anxiety, and in that moment, life melted away.

He loves me, and I love Him.

He loves you, and you love Him.

Oh, the beauty of it!

Love and Obedience

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command."


I think most of us would love to believe that we don’t have to do anything - God does everything, while we sit around and eat bon-bons. Ah, wishful thinking. Yet, God is pretty clear. It’s pretty simple. And Jesus wants us to remember this simple concept - He repeats it two more times in this chapter of John, so it must be pretty important, too. So, if it’s so important, how is it that we can’t seem to grasp the concept?

Now, I will say that there is nothing we can do to earn the love of God - once we have received His gift of salvation, it’s a done deal. Even sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit (although, there is much we can do to help or hinder His work). So, why is obedience so important? Well, because God asks it of us. It is how we show our love to Him. Sound strange? Maybe.

I think of it in terms of my children. They will always be my children, regardless of what they do, or how they behave - they will always be mine, and I will always love them. However, the way they behave is an indication of how they feel about me. When Regann does not do as I ask her, or goes against something I’ve asked her to do (often, numerous times), it grieves, and angers me, and ultimately, it saddens me because of the discipline I must then give her. Do I love her any less? No. But will I be blessing her because of her actions, or lack of them? No. Will I be pleased with her? Will I be able to enjoy her and her company during her disobedience? No. When she obeys me, it is generally a show of love on her part - she does it because she sees how her obedience pleases me and her dad. I wonder if it must be the same with God.

Our obedience or disobedience does not make us any more or any less His children. But if we want the abundant life in Christ that He has promised, if we want Him to delight in us, and to not be grieved by our actions, we must obey Him. That’s how it all started, after-all, isn’t it? In the garden, really the only major thing God asked of Adam and Eve was obedience. It was their disobedience that put us all in a tail-spin. Of course, if they hadn’t done it, I’m sure I would have. However, we must still strive to obey Him, and to serve Him as He made us to.

This obedience is for my sake, more than His. It is for my benefit that God asks what He does of me. And it is for your sake that He asks what He does of you. We have the choice to obey, or not. But if we choose to not obey, then we cannot complain when we begin to reap the consequences of that disobedience, can we?

So, do we love God? Do we love Christ as much as we say we do? Then why do we not obey Him? It would seem that we think we hold Him in higher esteem than we really do, if we say we love Him, and do not obey Him. Oh, how it must make Him feel to see us declaring our love for Him, while thumbing our noses at His simple requests for us.