~ 7 Ways Christians Should Keep
Christ’s Words ~
Key Passage ~ “[Jesus said,] ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I
will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. I will not leave you
orphans; I will come to you. A little
while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My
Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them,
it is he who loves Me. And he who
loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to
him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how
is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with
him. He who does not love Me does not
keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who
sent Me” (John 14:15-24).
Keep Christ’s Words Faithfully
~ example: Like Adam
was to keep the Garden of Eden. “Then the Lord God
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord
God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may
freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis
2:15-17).
Keep Christ’s Words Constantly
~ example: Like the Lord keeps us. “I have called upon
You, for You will hear me, O God; incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who
save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me under
the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who
surround me” (Psalm 17:6-9).
Keep Christ’s Words Completely
~ example: Like the Levites kept the charge of the
tabernacle. “And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
‘Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that
they may serve him. And they shall
attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the
tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. Also they shall attend to all the furnishings
of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do
the work of the tabernacle” (Numbers 3:5-8).
“Their duty included the ark, the table, the
lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they
ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them” (Numbers 3:31).
“‘And
from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn
from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the
livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of
the Lord.’ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses” (Numbers
31:30-31). “And from the children of
Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave
them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses” (Numbers 31:47).
Keep Christ’s Words Diligently
~ example: Like Jonathan did in looking out for David’s
enemies. “So
Jonathan told David, saying, ‘My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until
morning, and stay in a secret place and hide” (1 Samuel 19:2).
Keep Christ’s Words Vigilantly ~ example:
Like Saul’s messengers watched for David. “Saul also sent
messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If
you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped” (1
Samuel 19:11-12).
Keep Christ’s Words Attentively
~ example: Like the example of a Godly man. “Mark the blameless
man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace” (Psalm
37:37).
Keep Christ’s Words Carefully
~ example: Like God did for Israel in bringing them to
Canaan. “So
the people answered and said: ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and
our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did
those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went
and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord
drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who
dwelt in the land. We also will serve
the Lord, for He is our God’” (Joshua
24:16-18).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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