WHY SHOULD WE WANT TO LOVE AND OBEY GOD

Do we really understand what this means?

I am convinced​​​​ that many in this generation have not received the instruction necessary to understand what loving God really means for us as humans. We are more than willing to give lip service to loving God as long as God meets our expectations of him, but when the going gets 

rough we begin to think that perhaps God has abandoned us and left us to fend for ourselves. When this happens, our love shrivels up and sometimes dies. If we were honest with ourselves, that kind of love would never pass for the genuine article, and we would have to 

admit that our love for God is not the rainy day kind but the feel good kind. In other words, it is not love at all! The love we should have 

trusts God and continues to love him even when things look grim and hopeless.

God doesn't deserve our love merely because of what he gives us in the earthly realm. If that is the full scope of our love it will certainly be short lived when the trials come and we find things we cherish taken from us through one event or the other such as natural disasters or the death of a loved one. We should love God in deep humility and gratitude for what he's done through Jesus Christ to deliver us from wickedness 

in our lives and the multitude of sins he has forgiven us!​​​  God has provided the means of securing our salvation and has offered it to those who believe even though none of them were worthy of it.  We were all guilty of transgressions against a holy God whose standards of holiness 

and purity were violated by every one of us, and yet his mercy moved beyond our willful rebellion and disobedience to deliver us from our own foolishness! God is not compelled to act in any way that is inconsistent with his nature, and sometimes that nature will withhold things for the 

good of his children. While we cannot see into the future, God can, and when he sees something we are asking for as harmful to us he will not grant our request.  God answers prayer in three ways; Yes, No and Wait. We love the first one, rebel against the second and despise the third. 

Our world has instant everything and so waiting more than a few minutes, hours, or days seems like forever to us. When God answers with no 

or wait, we must then exercise faith that God knows what is best, and that delay is not denial. I prayed for four years that God would give me a 

wife that loved him more than she loved me. There were many times when I thought I had met the right person, but God intervened and kept me for the wife of his choice, and she is the best wife any man could ever ask for.  If I had foolishly rushed ahead, marriage could have become a tragedy instead of the tremendous blessing it has become!

It is also true that sometimes God wants to give us things that we ask for, but we are not ready to receive them. God had to deal with certain motivation and attitude in me to prepare me to be a husband.  While I was not a finished product when I got married, my life was better than when  I first started praying for a wife at the beginning.  We are never fully finished because God is always refining us to be more like our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, but there are things in life that require preparation and where the importance of that preparation cannot be overstated! Marriage is among the most prominent of them all.

Because God is perfect, he will make no mistakes concerning you and I.  He knows the beginning and end of all things, so we should put aside feelings of anxiety and trust him.  Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we are to trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding. This is the best of advice, and we need it every day.

GOD DEMANDS AND DESERVES OUR OBEDIENCE​​​​​​

Some Christians find it difficult to understand why God would require obedience from them. These are generally new Christians who are just starting out in their walk with the Lord, but there are still many who have never been taught and have been Christians for many years. The 

longer we walk with the Lord the more we understand the wisdom of our obedience to and trust in him. The mature Christian has learned through trial and error the foolishness of disobedience or rash decisions. They are fully aware of the foolishness of thinking that they are better equipped than God concerning what to do or where to go or how to deal with all of life's challenges. Through choices or situations that went bad, these seasoned veterans have been educated in the school of experience and hard knocks and have changed their way or doing and thinking to God's ways and his thoughts. While the learning process has sometimes been very difficult, they have come to know in their heart that "Father Knows Best."

God's commandments do not present a problem to the wise because they understand that he has their best interests at heart. (Jeremiah 29:11)  They believe that God will never allow them to experience anything that is not necessary in the course of their lives and through the vast ages of eternity. 

Loving God should be easy to us, and that love should lead to unquestioning faith, loyalty and obedience to what he speaks to us.             It's all a learning process, but in the end it will be well worth anything we must go through to learn what we must!​​ ​​​​

C R Lord © 3/23/2016