Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23
I don’t know that there could be anything more profound than this statement of Jesus. Yet it is so simple and so amazingly clear. The fruit of loving God is obedience. We don’t obey God to gain His love. That is getting the proverbial “cart in front of the horse”! No need to strive for God’s love when we already have it. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “We love him because he first loved us.” (I John 4;19).
No, obedience is not the primary thing, love is. Remember the greatest commandment Jesus spoke of when asked which is the greatest? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37). Loving God in every way, with every part of our being is what He requires because He knows that when we love him only then will we have the power to obey him. Loving God with our all empowers us, it motivates us, it graces us in life to live for him and him alone. Through love we find the strength to love him with our lives, even give our lives as “living sacrifices” for him. Nothing He asks of us is too much or too hard.
How do we get that kind of love for God? How do we become what some call “Laid down lovers”? One thing for sure it certainly is not by our power alone. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5 that “we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand”. He goes on to essentially say that all that God is doing in us to transform our character is “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:1-5). By faith (in Christ) we enter into grace. Essentially we enter into a love relationship with God. And this brings us to the the second part of Jesus’ statement: “we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Here in America when someone comes to our home and we want them to feel comfortable we say: “Make yourself at home”. Essentially we are saying, kick off your shoes, eat what you want from my pantry, just act as if you live here, we have nothing to hide! Those who love God with all their heart, soul, and mind are, in a way, saying to Him: Make yourself at home! And He does! He comes to live with us and in us. God feels so welcomed by our love that He decides He is going to move in! He does this, of course, via the Holy Spirit.
Let me ask you, does God live in your house? Is He welcome to whatever is yours – relationships, business, possessions, and dreams? Is He given free access to every part of your life? Or, do you partmentalize – allowing Him access only to certain areas of your life? Is he welcome at your dinner table or is He a forgotten guest? Is He welcome to use your computer or will you be ashamed for Him to possibly see the sites you’ve been on, the conversations you’ve had, the things you love and support? If He were sitting with you as you watch TV, would you watch what you watch or something more wholesome?
None of us have arrived to perfection. We have an imperfect love for God. We are in process as our hearts are constantly being renewed in Christ by the power of His love, if we live and act as if we really believe the truth that God has made His home in us. He sees all, he hears all, he knows all. Ask Him to help you love Him more perfectly so that he can be fully at home in your heart.
