I got a new phone this weekend. I was excited because I have had the same phone for years -- and I do mean YEARS. I played around with it pretty much all afternoon Saturday. I am definitely not tech savvy and I still have a lot to learn. But I am at least doing the basics.
The thing is - at first my own phone didn't even know me. That was weird. It was my phone --- so what was going on? Well, it turns out I needed a password - only then would I have access to some of the applications I needed.
Then I had to 'set up Siri.' I had to speak into the phone several times saying different phrases, so the software would recognize my voice. If Siri didn't know who I was, she wouldn't respond to my requests.
I felt like my phone should have known me. After all, I had the same number. I was disappointed I couldn't do everything I wanted with it. But I needed that password. The password was the key.
Are our spiritual lives like this sometimes? Our Savior longs to be part of our lives. After all He has done for us, He probably thinks we should know Him too, right? Can you imagine His disappointment when we act like we don't?
What does He think when we refuse to recognize His blessings, forget to pray every day and hardly ever pick up a Bible to study and learn about Him? If we don't know who Christ is how are we going to respond to his commands?
Daily life is tricky. We are so easily distracted. So much comes at us every day. People disappoint us, jobs sometimes cause stress and we face sorrow and heartache along life's way. There is a peace which passes understanding. The password - the key - is Jesus.
Jesus gives us the strength and hope we need to get through our days and years. Sometimes we are so distraught we can only face one dark hour at a time -- Jesus is the key to getting back to the light.
We need to know Jesus. Know Him through prayer - know Him through studying the gospels and seeing how He lived. Read about how He treated others. Learn of God's care and concern for each of us. He isn't with us on earth anymore; but that should not keep us from knowing Him.
If we expect to get to heaven one day and spend eternity with God, then we must go through Christ to get there. Remember what He said to Thomas in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." We don't have access to the Father without going through the Son.
Christ goes on to say in John 14:15 - "If you love me you will keep my commandments." As we read on through these beautiful verses, the Savior explains how important this is. Consider verse 21: "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."
Again in verse 23, Christ says love for Him is shown by keeping His word and thereby we gain the love of the Father. It is by knowing the Son and loving Him enough to follow His commandments that we will have access to the love of the Father and to all the things He (the Father) can do for us.
Love is vital in all of this. We can't use the commandments as some kind of "things to do" list. We cannot be like the rich young ruler who checked off all the commandments and said, "I have done all this."
He must have thought he had it made. Yet, Jesus knew the young man's heart. Our Lord presented him with a challenge to sell all he had. The young man went away sorrowfully.
In 1 Corinthians 13 , Paul warned against using our gifts without love. He sums it up in verse three by saying even "if I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."
Love and obedience should go hand in hand. This is all part of 'knowing Him.' There are other aspects of this, too. Sometimes folks love Christ and obey Him, but don't fully know Him.
Sometimes we don't always study the scriptures enough to understand all His commandments. Maybe we trust others to tell us what to do instead of checking God's word for ourselves. Or maybe we are like the Pharisees and follow traditions of men, rather than the scriptures. We could be truthful all the time and never lie; but if we take part in gossip or hold grudges against our neighbor are we keeping His commandments?
Maybe we think obeying the gospel is all we have to do. But think about this - really think about it please. Is that all the first century church did? For Lydia and Dorcas and Timothy and Barnabas becoming a Christian wasn't the end of their obedience, it was only the beginning!
We need to know Jesus - He is the way, the truth and the life. It is through loving and obeying Him we have the hope of eternal life. There is no other way to the Father except through the Son.
The Savior tells us in Matthew 7:21-23 that not everyone who performs a work in His name will gain entrance into heaven. He will tell them He never knew them. Why? Why didn't Christ know them?
Perhaps no love was involved. Maybe they knew about Christ but didn't take the time to know Him. There is a difference between the two. Or perhaps they didn't study the scriptures enough to understand all of His commands. Remember it is by keeping His commandments that we show our love for Christ and gain the love of the Father.
There is one more thing to consider. We must let others know we love Him. If we want Christ to know us, we should act like we know Him -- live like we know Him. We should treat others as He would have us to treat them. Love like He loved. Follow His way and His truth.
My phone recognized me once I had the password. It was what I needed. If we want to 'come to the Father' we must go through the Son. Jesus is who we need.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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