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John shows us how to move from obeying out of fear to joyful
obedience, for “disobedience to God’s will is a tragedy – but so is reluctant,
grudging obedience. God does not want us
to disobey Him, but neither does He
want us to obey out of fear or necessity,”
my commentary explained. “The secret to joyful obedience is to recognize that
obedience is a family matter. We are serving a loving Father and helping our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
D.L. Moody said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather.” “We show our love to God, not by empty words but by willing works,” my commentary added.
The progression toward joyful obedience follows a path:
“As God’s love is perfected in us, we have confidence toward Him and do not live
in fear. Because fear is cast out, we
can be honest and open; there is no need to pretend. And because fear is gone, our obedience to
His commands is born out of love,
not terror. We discover that His
commandments are not
burdensome. Finally, living in this atmosphere of love,
honesty, and joyful obedience, we are able to face the world with victorious
faith and to overcome instead of being
overcome.”
Father, I thank You that, over these years, You have been
perfecting Your love within me. Where
once I read Your Word and thought it restrictive,
I now read it as Your love letter to me.
Please keep on doing that. I’m
not there yet, but I want to be.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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