If you love Me...

In John 14, Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey what I command."

I used to think this was to be understood like this:

"In order to show that you love Me, you must obey My commands."

And that is true. But I'm not so sure that's what Jesus was getting at. I think He might prefer that we understand it like this:

"You are no longer bound by the law. My commands are not to be burdensome to you, because I have taken care of that. However, I know you're concerned about obedience, and I appreciate that concern. But what I'm more interested in is your love for Me. The obedience will flow from the love. If you love Me, everything else will take care of itself."

There's a big difference in these two interpretations. Do you see it? I'd like to know your thoughts.

David Platt's Radical

I'm just a couple chapters in and loving - or hating - it. Quite a challenging read, especially if the Spirit is working on you. Check out the video below and comments here.

The Gospel Demands Radical Giving - David Platt from Together for Adoption on Vimeo.

Lead Me

Grace!

Bob Russell's "Marriage by the Book"

I just finished a small and out-of-print book by Southeast Christian's retired pastor Bob Russell entitled "Marriage by the Book: Biblical Models for Marriage Today." You can find plenty of copies - new and used - by clicking on the link in the title.

Though some of the statistics and references are outdated (the book was written in the early 1990s), it contains refreshing and practical, Biblical principles for a great marriage. Bob walks through 7 Biblical couples (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, Amram and Jochebed, David and Bathsheba, and Boaz and Ruth) to apply their successes and failures to modern day marriage experiences. Adam and Eve had the bliss of perfection tarnished by sin; Abraham and Sarah were frustrated and made poor decisions yet overcame them; Isaac "found" Rebekah, quite a model for the "perfect" wife; Jacob got into trouble with Rachel and Leah, and Leah found herself looking for her value in her children; Amram and Jochebed worked together to notice and nurture their three children while they had the opportunity; and Boaz and Ruth reveal that it's never too late to start over.

I've been reading another book on marriage, one written much more recently, concurrently, and I've been much more impressed with Bob's older book. I highly recommend it...