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By Mike Caton

John 15:10, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

If we want to remain in Jesus’ love, we need to keep his commands. It is amazing the number of people who simply fail to make this connection. They seem to think they can do whatever they please and still be faithful to Jesus. They might pick and choose some of his commands, some things they might think are more important and so they do those things. And some things they might not like, so they deem them unimportant and they ignore them. But is that really what God wants? Do we serve God or does he serve us?

Jesus followed the commands his Father gave him, and that was why he was considered faithful. There can be no doubt Jesus was looking forward to his time on earth. He knew the reception he would get, he knew he would be rejected and despised, he knew he would flogged and condemned, and he knew he would be crucified. That was why he was in such agony in the garden, and why he asked the Father to take the cup away. But Jesus was committed to the Father and his plan. He said, not my will but yours be done.

That is the attitude we need to develop in our own lives. We need to learn to live less for self and more for God. We need to commit ourselves to doing things God’s way, not ours. This is not a condemnation to a life of suffering and unpleasantness. In fact, we will learn the closer we get to the Lord, the better our lives are. We can learn, being closer to God, the secret of contentment. We can learn what true joy really is. We can have peace, satisfaction and all the other things people are so desperately looking for. But the truth is, those things only come through God.

Father, help me keep your commandments. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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