The art of remaining
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” John 15:9-11
Remain:
· to wait somewhere
· to continue in a particular state without changing
· to be left after everything else has gone
· to continue to need to be taken care of after everything else has been dealt with
· to endure and succeed at continuing on in spite of all
Obey:
· comply with the command, direction, or request of
· to submit to the authority of
• carry out a command or instruction
• behave in accordance with
My Abba,
When I look at the meanings of “remain,” this truth is so rich. I want to wait in your love. I want to always continue in your unchanging love. I want to be left in your love after everything else has gone. I will continue to need your love after everything else has been dealt with. I want to endure in your love in spite of all challenges.
So, remaining in your love sounds like a perfectly beautiful idea. But then I read the “how to” part, and I am convicted. Words like obey, comply, submit and command, bring me back to reality. You say if I want to remain in your love, I need to obey you. To me, obeying commands does not sound as winsome as remaining in your love.
I don’t often associate obedience with joy. My culture tells me I am in charge and should chart my own course. I am told only I can decide what’s best for me, and I shouldn’t march to anyone else’s drum. Sometimes, I forget you know me infinitely better than I know myself. You are the only consummate expert on me and my best path. You never make poor decisions for me or anyone else.
But when I read verses like the ones I saw this morning in Psalm 119, I know I am not fully embracing truth. My heart is not like the psalmist’s.
“I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.”
“I am always overwhelmed with a desire for your regulations.”
“How I delight in your commands! How I love them!”
“Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight.”
“I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.”
Psalm 119:14, 20, 47, 111, 131
Please give me joy, delight, desire, love, and longing for your commands, so that I might more consistently enjoy your love. I want your ways to be my treasure.
I love you,
Mollie
My child,
The reason the psalmist could write about his love for my laws is because he understood they reflected my heart and were flawless.
Your desire to rebel against me and my commands is part of the human experience. Taking pleasure in obedience to my laws is not natural. But I can give you a supernatural desire to please me. My instructions give you a roadmap, but only by my Spirit will you comply joyfully.
Sometimes you don’t even consciously decide to defy me. But you let the debris of the day take center stage. When life’s clutter rises up incessantly tugging at the hem of your mind, please don’t hand it a microphone. I don’t want the siren song of your flesh to upstage my plans and purposes for you.
When I ask for obedience to my commands, it is not some cosmic trick I devised to siphon the pleasure right out of your life. As your heart comes into alignment with mine, my joy in you will overflow!
I love you,
Abba
photo: j.chalabala