May 29

How joyful it is to a parent when a child obeys his word. How that parent's heart is filled with sadness, however, when the child whom that parent loves disobeys a parent's words.

Throughout Scripture, obedience is given as the key that shows what is in the heart. We are constantly told to love God and just as consistently told that obedience is the hallmark of proof that we do indeed love God.

There are times when I sense my own sinfulness so much, and my selfishness, that I wonder if I love anybody at all besides myself. And if I have doubts about loving others, then question my love for God. I even ask God directly, "Do I love you, God?"

When those times happen, God directs me to what he has said in his Word about this. Always, the same answer is seen: My test for loving God is simply to see if I obey him.

My love for God is not merely a feeling, an emotion, for sometimes I get upset with the way life is going and then wonder if I really am submitted to him. But when I consider again that love is bound up with obedience, and I see that despite my emotional reaction to tough times in a negative way, that I really am still obeying God, then my heart is put at ease. For I cannot always control my emotions, but I can control my actions. I cannot help how I feel, but I can still obey.

"This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything" (1 John 3:19, 20).

Scripture for today: 1 John 3:16-24
Thought for today: Obedience is not love, but there is no love without it.
Prayer for today: Lord, help me to show my love for you by obeying you.

MAY 29