Love Means Obedience

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 says: “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

You see love means obedience. I bet you thought that I was going to tell you that since Jesus came, love means something different; some touch-feely emotion, some warm and fuzzy feeling. Well I’m not going to tell you that, I can’t. To Jesus, love meant the same thing it meant in Deuteronomy.

Remember today we talked about what John wrote in John 14:15 he said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

When I was in high school and college I was really big on the counter culture. I dressed differently, acted differently; listen to music that I knew would drive my parents bonkers, I even wore two different color shoes just so I could get a reaction. My mom used to walk into a clothing store and find the ugliest thing in the store and buy it for me, she knew I would love it.

In College I had a moment of reality. Some rebellious friends of mine and I were at a youth rally, and we were goofing off during a break and this older man came walking by staring at us. I knew what was going to happen, it happened all the time, he would make some derogatory comment about how he didn’t know what this world was coming to and we would say something spiritual like, well Jesus loves us anyway.

But this time that’s not how it happened. When he got to us he said, “Hey guys do you want to be rebellious, counter-cultural, unusual, distinct, extraordinary, and down right weird?” No one had started this way with us before so he had my full attention. He then looked at us smiled and said “If that’s what you want love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The world just won’t get it.”

You know he was right. When we love the Lord with all we’ve got, we will definitely be counter culture, and people will think we are a little off. But I would rather be off from the world then at odds with God.

Well if the greatest command is found in John 14:16, "If you love me you will keep my commandments."