Because I Love Him

If you love me, you will obey my commands. – John 14:15

Lately, my faith has been a bit on trial. A few people are probing to find out if there are any real Christians. More specifically, they want to find out if I am one. At first, I thought these questions were silly, but the more they play in my head, I wonder how most people who claim to be a Christian would respond. Here are a few questions and my answers.

“Would you sleep with (Insert name of beautiful actress) if she threw herself at you?”

“No”

“Would you smoke, drink, or take (Insert drug of choice) for a million dollars?”

“No”

“What if you could give half of the money to the poor, or church or something, would you do it then?”

“No”

“Would you say GD for a million dollars?”

“No”

“You are crazy! Why not?”

Here is actually the first really good question. What could possibly make a person actually deny themselves all of these worldly pleasures? There was a time, even as a person who claimed to be a Christian that I would have taken any of those “deals.”   What is the difference?

I haven’t always loved God. I think I have always feared God. If a person obeys out of fear, they only obey because they feel like they have to. If a person obeys out of love, they will obey because they want to. In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” I get that now. It took a lot of years, but I finally get it. The more I have read and studied the Bible, the more I have been convinced that God loves me. The more I am convinced of His love for me, the more I love Him back. The more I love Him back, the more I want with all of my heart to honor Him and obey Him . . . regardless of the cost to me. He is 10,000 times better than anything this world has to offer.

What are your honest answers to those seemingly silly questions?

Do you love Him?

Later

Adam