1 John 2:3 --- And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
God is so amazing! I went to bed late last night, so I changed my alarm to 6:00 AM. As I got going there was this little concern buzzing around my head; about having enough time to spend with the Lord in prayer, reading the Word, being in His presence and doing art with Him. I waved the thought away, but it kept buzzing back. Then as soon as I started talking to the Lord and had to hand it to Him. He pushed it away through simply drawing my focus Him alone. The amazing part is my time was simple and straightforward with Him today, yet deep and complex. Something I've learned only makes sense in God to have things like simple and complex in harmony.
Straight into today's scripture. Remember those mirror verses I always talk about, well here's a big one.
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS."
How do you know if you know Jesus? Do you keep His commandments? Be real. Don't give yourself the curated, carefully crafted, rationalized out answer that you know you're supposed to say. Do you keep His commandments every day in your life? Not perfectly as John showed us just in verse 1 we're going to slip up but let the walls down with yourself and God. Do you strive daily to keep His commandments?
For some that may be a tough question. That's a good thing if this causes a struggle inside. I pray the Lord would open eyes to see through self-deceit and be convicted by the answer they find. That it would bring to genuine repentance (going to the Lord, telling Him you missed the mark on this one, you see it how He does and are changing your direction to walk in step with Him now). I know I've had to do this just at the end of last year when I was out of step with Him in my own life. The journey you see me on now is a result of that repentance. The new direction with Him.
On the other hand, many professed Christians will instantly and loudly shout, "YES! I keep His commandments!". They can even give a checklist of all the commandments they have kept since their youth. Here's where God took me deeper on today's word because read on the surface you're presented with a simple thing.
Checklist Christianity View: "Do I keep his commandments?"... Thou shalt not Kill. I haven't killed anyone, (check). Thou shalt not Steal. I haven't stolen anything, (check). Thou shalt not Lie. Well technically what I said to sister Sue and brother Joe wasn't a lie, it was to make them feel better, so no I haven't lied, (check). Okay I'm doing good, I'm passing this test, doing good on knowing Him.
Here's the challenge with approaching this with a checklist, it's not relationship, which means it's all head and no heart in it. It's you, in your strength, checking a box. It doesn't require actual relationship with Him. Also, things don't always appear the same under the surface.
The Lord highlighted for me the word "KEEP" today. In the Greek that word is tēreō which means: to attend to carefully, take care of, TO OBSERVE. To attend carefully and take care of, take us deeper but can still be used in a checklist manner, but what really disrupts checklists and requires relationship is in the "to observe" portion.
Observe: to CONFORM one's action or practice to (something, such as a law, rite, or condition): comply with.
Conform: to be similar or identical, also: to be in agreement or harmony —used with to or with.
God really opened my eyes to see this isn't just a simple check list of the 10 commandments here. John is directing us to take a genuine, real, eyes opened wide, look at our lives and not just if we check the boxes of God's commands but are we conforming, becoming similar to Jesus. Are your actions, thoughts, and lives being molded to be closer to identical to those He shows us in the Word?
So now my Christian brother or sister, take a deep breath, let it out. Ask God to open your eyes and ask yourself "Do I keep His commandments?".
Not perfectly of course, only Jesus was perfect, but are you attending to His word and commandments daily? Are you taking care of those commandments daily? Most importantly… Are you observing and allowing yourself to be pressed into the mold of His Word, His love, His direction, so you are conforming to it, becoming similar to it?
The image today for the artwork was one of being pressed into a playdoh mold. It doesn't always come out perfectly the same, but when you remove it you'll have an idea of what it is. We should be this way with His commandments and His word and in our relationship with Him. Each time we sacrifice time to be with Him and sacrifice the safety of our internal walls, we are pressed into the mold and each time we come out looking more like our Jesus!
Big questions. Lots of words. As I always say don't take my word on it, get in the Bible, ask God to show you. Read it, check it out and see what He tells you about it!
Comments