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Love and Obey

Am I fooling myself? Am I deceived?

  • Possibly.
  • Probably.
  • This is a tough question.

I have heard a lot. God’s word has been with me since I was incredibly young. I have heard it every day.

  • Listening without acting on what I have heard is useless.
  • I must act on what I hear.

Jesus challenges me. I must do what God wants me to today.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

ESV (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), James 1:22–25

We are to hear God’s words and do them. We must not stop with only hearing (or studying) His words. Our hearing must result in doing. This is what it means to build on the rock foundation that Jesus mentions.

  • Matthew 7:24–25 — 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
  • Matthew 12:50 — 50 “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
  • John 12:26 — 26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
  • John 14:21 — 21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
  • John 14:23 — 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
  • John 21:4–6 — 4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” 6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
  • 1 John 2:17 — 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
  • Exodus 19:5 — 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
  • John 15:10 — 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
  • Deuteronomy 5:29 — 29 ‘Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!
  • 1 Kings 3:14 — 14 “If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”
  • 2 Kings 18:5–7 — 5 He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to Yahweh; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Yahweh had commanded Moses. 7 And Yahweh was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.