Trust and Obey

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” John 14: 23 – 24

Isn’t it amazing how old memories just rise to the surface from time to time? Recently someone posted someone singing an old hymn, and it reminded me of how much my mother loved those old familiar songs! I remember her telling me how she never really had any interest in learning to play the piano as a child, but her sister had taken a few lessons and taught her some of the notes. She then basically taught herself to play 3 of her favorite songs using just those notes.

I can still see her so vividly, sitting at the piano while she played and sang, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, “The Old Rugged Cross”, and this one, “Trust and Obey”:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

(Refrain): Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

(Refrain):

What a beautiful reminder that God does desire our trust and obedience. Second only to loving Him, this is His priority for our lives. And in this verse, Jesus tells us that the proof of our love for Him is our obedience to Him. Are we obeying His commands to us, following His teachings, doing what He tells us to do? He wants us to fully experience His presence and His love in our lives and by doing so, we must obey His will. As the words from the song remind us, “There’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Often it is difficult to know just what His will is, but we can obey His truths revealed to us in Scripture and what His Spirit lays on our hearts. Obeying Him takes courage as we so often want to do things our own way and sometimes His way differs from what the world expects of us. It may not make sense from our own perspective, but we can trust and believe that He can and will enable us to do whatever He is asking of us. Our amazing God can do extraordinary things we never thought possible through us. And when we do obey Him, we can know that He will bless us with His goodness and love. May we obey Him out of our deep love for Him and be faithful in all we do.

Prayer

Dear Lord, we thank you for loving us so unconditionally and graciously. How difficult it is for us to always be obedient to you. Help us to have the strength and confidence in you to be faithful to your will, to trust in your grace, and to be more obedient. Amen