Embrace His Life on Earth
Obey His Teaching – Part 2
Scripture Reading: John 14:21-27
Key Verse: John 14:24
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.
As we continue from yesterday’s devotional, we return to the comparison of Jesus’ teaching to our lifestyle. On many occasions I have people tell me that they have Jesus in their heart and have believed in God all their lives. They proceed to tell me that they are living in some sin. If I question how they justify the continued life of sin, they normally get offended. One lady said, “Are you questioning my faith?” In truth, I guess I was; she was openly living in sin.
God is very patient with His children when they acknowledge their sinful ways and put forth a sincere effort to stop. This process may take time as a new Christ follower develops new habits and drops old habits. However, when a person claims faith in Jesus but refuses to work on their sinful lifestyle, they, according to our scripture for today, are not in God’s family: “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching” (John 14:24).
Our walk with God is a walk that takes a lifetime to grow more like Him. As long as we are truly working on our un-Christ like ways—doing our best to be holy as He is holy—we will continue in fellowship with Him. We must be very careful about justifying behavior when that behavior is clearly identified as sinful in the Bible!
Father, open my eyes to anything in my lifestyle that is offensive to you. Grow me up to be like Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.