Assurance Test #2 - Obey His commands

Do you obey the Lord?  Not perfectly, or all the time, but is it in your mind to obey Him?  Let me ask it another way, when you are considering taking an action, are you asking yourself if it is pleasing to Him or in His will for you to do?  The point I'm trying to make is that if there is consideration of your actions in light of who He is, you're in!

"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.  The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him.  This is how we know we are in Him:  Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:3-6 NIV (emphasis mine)

Jesus already gave us this test back in the gospel of John:  "If you love Me, you will obey what I command." - John 14:15 NIV.  

What exactly are the commands we're to obey?

"One of them, an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'  Jesus replied:  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" - Matt 22:35-40 NIV

Do you see the connection between obedience and love?  Which comes first, love or obedience?  Who loved first?  John tells us later in his book, "We love because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:19.  If I were to put this in a flow chart it would go God loved me -> God saved me -> I respond in love and obey Him -> my obedience is loving Him and walking as His Son did on this earth.

Obedience is evidence, not currency for purchase, of my salvation.  It should be noted as well that the yoke Christ gives to us is not a burdensome list of regulations.  It is the yoke designed for people that are already tired of trying to earn their salvation.  "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." - Matt 11:28-30 NIV.

It just dawned on me, He wants me to love Him above all else.  Seriously, look at the verses above; look in His word and prove/disprove what I'm writing.  It looks like He wants me to love Him - obedience will follow as evidence of that love.  He wants my heart, not a list of acts that I've done either for Him or in His name to prove to Him why He should love me.  There was a group of men Jesus called "whitewashed tombs" because they had the obedience down, but they didn't have their hearts in the right place.

Let's bring this full circle.  The command is to love Him such that obedience results in a heart that is His.  Said another way, what do you get for the person who already has everything?  The only thing I have to give Him is my love.