Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (John 14:21 ESV)
Jesus is saying that the way we respond to God will affect our experience of him. If we trust God and obey him, then Jesus promises he will “manifest” himself to us. He will make himself more apparent. Jesus couldn’t be clearer that we will know God better by obeying him more. — Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne
Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
(Psalm 37:1-11 ESV)
The secret to abiding is to desire to abide, to desire to be in a deep and intimate relationship with God. Maybe our experience with human relationships affects our understanding of this because of our experience in human relationships. I am married to my wife. More pertinent to this discussion I’m going to spend 8 hours in a car with her today. We’re both tired and ready to be home. I’ve had occasions when I’ve been a little cranky over the past couple of days of travel. Even if my desire is for a pleasant trip and intimate conversations today there is nothing I can do that will guarantee that. I should probably flip that because I’m the one who is more likely to get testy.
God isn’t like me or my wife. The point of this book is that I’m even more united to him than I am to my wife. The significant difference is that he is good and loving all the time. He can promise that if I delight in him, desire him more than anything, that my desire will be fulfilled. Why wouldn’t I want this? Unfortunately, there are many reasons and most of them have to do with my evil and selfish desires.
What are you going to choose to desire today? Why not choose to desire more of God and see what happens? We abide (remain) where we want to abide.
I don’t want to abide in this hotel room one moment longer than necessary. I long to be home. This motivation will drive all my actions all day today. Why is this so easy for us to understand in the physical world and difficult for us to understand and put into practice in the spiritual world?
Leave a Reply