HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
Relationship—it is at the core of everything God has ever done. He created mankind for the purpose of having a relationship with them. After sin entered the world, everything God did as recorded in the Scriptures was for the purpose of restoring the relationship that had been severed by sin. This passage reminds us of the purpose of the suffering and death that Jesus was preparing to go through. Relationship. If we will love Him and keep His words, then He and the Father will love us and dwell with us. That is all that God ever wanted, a relationship that will last for all eternity. Jesus was about to die to make that relationship possible. After that, it is up to us. We have to choose Him. We have to come to Him in faith and obedience, establishing a relationship with Him through baptism, and loving Him and devoting ourselves to keeping His word. God’s love for us is clearly seen in the cross of Christ. His desire for a relationship with us is obvious. The choice is ours.
Why is our obedience necessary in order to have a relationship with God?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
