Kept!

Kept!

‭‭John‬ ‭14:21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

These were the last words of Jesus to his disciples, just before He went on the cross to die for the sin of the whole world. He used the opportunity to lay down the principles and practices of His kingdom, so that all who would desire to follow Him would know what the standards are. If I claim to be a disciple, it means that I am consciously seeking to know more about the person I am following, and striving to get closer to Him on a regular basis. Discipleship is not a weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual affair, but a daily walk with the Master. I come to Him daily for guidance, instruction and correction, and I apply the lessons learnt to my daily living. That is the message in the verse above: 'He that hath my commandments AND keepeth them'. Note the AND that links the having and the keeping. I cannot have and then refuse to keep; that would be hypocrisy. I cannot keep what I do not first have; that is trying to fake it. None works; the proof of discipleship is the discipline to search for the truth, and when you have known it, to live by it on a daily basis. Am I that kind of disciple? 

One of the greatest benefits of discipleship is the love of God the Father. Whatever else you may have, if you do not have the love of God in your heart, it is of no value. Obedience to the commands and instructions of God the Father is also a sign of love. It is quite critical to also mention that the love for Jesus can't be divorced from the love for His Father. How can I claim to love the Father and then have no regard for the Son? It is the Son who gives access to the Father, just as the Son has made clear that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Him. Just picture what it means to be loved by God the Father and God the Son. Look at the lives of all who God said He loved: Jacob, David and Solomon. See how their lives turned out. Check out the life of Esau, the one who God said he hates. You will not go far in life, at least in line with God's will and purpose for you, without finding the love of God. This is critical to both the earthly and eternal impact that God wants me to make. When I have received love, then I can give it. When it is real to me, I will not struggle to show it to others. Have I known this love? Does He also know me as His own? God's time of favour is here.