John 14:23-29 (The Message)
23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.
25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
28 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life. 29 “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me.
Saying goodbye is often difficult. This is the setting of our text - Jesus saying goodbye. The disciples don’t get it; so he tells them again. They hear the words but still do not really understand, for it has not happened yet. Only when it happens will they know. So Jesus leaves them with a word they can hang on to - love.
Love is the most important word in the Bible and in our lives.
It is enough to say, “God is love.”
And to repeat over and over and over again, as the Psalmist does,
that “his steadfast love endures forever.” It is enough to know that I am loved.
Then I can make it through even the roughest of days!
We are to obey Jesus words because we love doing it. We love doing it because we have first been loved into doing it. To obey out of love is to love obeying!
We are to be amateurs about love.
That is, be “those who do something
because they love doing it.”
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me obey one commandment ahead of all others - to love as I have been loved by You!”
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