This morning I was struck by a sobering thought - God is looking for lovers of righteousness, not simply those who do righteously.
What do I mean by that?
The idea that we can live in "unhappy" holiness and still enter into God's eternal presence seems completely non-biblical.
Can I be holy apart from loving the One who is holy? Can I accept Christ's righteousness, made available through the cross, the ultimate demonstration of love, and still do His commands with a stubborn heart? Is that love? Is that acceptable worship?
We know that love does not obey because it has to - it obeys because it wants to, because it brings pleasure to the heart of the one offering up their obedience!
So why do we speak so poorly of radical holy living? Is it because we have lost sight of the God who rewards those who diligently seek Him? (Heb 11:6)
The truth of the word is this, there is a great reward for those who live a life of loving obedience!
Jesus said, "if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him and We will come and make Our home with him." John 13:23
But let us be clear about what Jesus is saying, or rather NOT saying!
He does not say "if you obey My word I will count your good works as love." (that would be salvation through works, which we know is a deception), but rather, that the overflow of our affection for Jesus will result in a desire to keep His word, and that the reward of this affection based obedience is this; that God will come to us at the end of the age and make His home with us. (Rev 21:3)
John 3:16 demonstrates that God has always been motivated by love, and He insists that His children reflect His unmistakable and non-replicable nature - one's motivated by love!
To help paint a more complete picture of this pleasure based obedience I think it's good to look at 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
Paul is describing the great falling away at the end of the age and states that "those who perish" (from the breath of Jesus mouth and the brightness of His coming) will be the ones who "did not receive the love of the truth...and who...had pleasure in unrighteousness".
Implying the converse reality, that "If you love the truth and take pleasure in righteousness you will be saved."
Paul not only defines those who are being saved as lovers of righteousness, but also as ones who take pleasure in it. Why? Because God is not after the righteous, He is after those who love Him, and HE is righteous!
"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." Psalm 45:18 / Heb 1:9
To enter into this kind of pleasurable obedience we must embrace God's definition of love, and that is this - to love Him first and imitate Him second. For we can not love that which we do not know, nor imitate that which we have not encountered.
It sobers me to think about how little I have truly enjoyed righteousness over the past 20 years. I suppose that is a reflection of how little I had encountered the person of God and His transforming heart of mercy, gentleness, affection and pleasure. But thanks be to God that He is still in the business of redeeming willing hearts!
May you be blessed today by an encounter with the Living God.
Thanks for reading!
Jon
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