“For this is the love of (for) God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3 [NASB])
At different times in our lives, we hear of someone who is
making a “big splash” (a big impression) for God and see he or she is doing
well in all areas of his or her life. At other times, we hear of someone doggedly
following God day by day and he or she is making no huge splash, yet they keep
following God. Doing well or merely surviving is not a result of one’s
following God. Jesus never said, follow Me and I will make you rich, healthy,
or famous all the time. He taught in the Sermon on the Mount God will provide
all your needs. What Jesus taught was “follow Me and I will make you fishers of
men”. (Matthew 4:19) What does it mean to be a “fisher of men?” Jesus and His
disciples explain that to us.
In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments.” This one statement sums up the Law to love the Lord God will all
your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
(Luke 10:27) Notice, the Law is summed up with love. God wants a relationship
with each person. Love for God is shown by obeying His commandments. Jesus said
this in John 14:15. John said it in 1 John 5:3 when he said, “For this is the
love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not
burdensome.” [NASB] He reiterated it in 2 John 1:6 when he said, “And this is love,
that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as
you have heard it from the beginning, that you should walk in it.” [NASB]
Paul gives examples of it in his writings to the different
congregations. Particularly, in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul,
while entreating the people to return to following Christ in the way he taught,
emphasized to them the difference between what he taught and did and what the
false teachers taught and did. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul alluded to a “teacher”
who “showed” he had great visions and revelations, and that caused people to follow
him. He wrote about one “teacher” who exalted himself by pointing out he had no
affliction (“thorn in the flesh”) so he “must be” a true teacher of God and,
hence, Paul was not since he had a thorn in the flesh.
Paul’s reaction to these statements was multi-fold. He said
God allowed him to have the thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself
(vs 7). Ouch, the other “teacher” would have said to that jab. Paul also reminded
the Corinthian church he persevered in Corinth even with the thorn in the
flesh. He did not just enter the city, gain fame, and then leave. He lingered there
for months and taught the people. Paul performed signs and wonders and
miracles, too, just as the other “teacher” did. In addition, Paul did not
burden the people with a requirement that they support him as the other “teacher”
did. He then stated, when he returned to Corinth a third time, again he would not
burden them to support him.
As if these arguments were not enough, Paul gave climax to
his argument for himself as a true apostle and teacher of the Lord as compared
to the other “teacher.” He said in 1 Corinthians 12:15, “I will most gladly spend
and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” Paul
said he went to and taught the people in Corinth because of his love for them.
He willingly would give himself, so their souls would be saved. With verse
nineteen, Paul explained why he would go to a people he did not know, stay with
them teaching them at his own expense, and do this even though he had a
burdensome “thorn in the flesh.” He said, “All this time you have been thinking
that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that
we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.” Paul went
to Corinth and spent himself and kept spending himself through prayers for and
letters to them because of God. He did this ministry for and to the Corinthians
in the sight of God, that is because of his love for God and his
resultant love of lost people, of whom the Corinthians were. Paul showed his
love for God through his obedience to Him to be a “fisher of men.” Paul obeyed
Jesus’ teaching to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and
to love his neighbor as himself.
Following the Lord, being His servant and obeying His
commands, comes out of a natural outpouring of our love for and thanks to God
for His marvelous grace and mercy shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection
of His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Our obedience to God is not evidenced only by
tangible, visible blessings from God such as health, wealth, and fame. Our
obedience to God can be seen most obviously by our following His commands to
love Him and our neighbor so that all people may come to hear the gospel. God
promises always to be with us and to take care of the needs of His children. God’s
taking care of a person is not part of the equation of loving Him and others. Wealth
or lack, health or sickness, fame or obscurity can happen to any of God’s
children, but it is not an indicator of a person’s salvation or obedience to
God. The true indicator of a person’s salvation is his or her spiritual fruit-love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. The
true indicator of a person’s love of God is his or her obedience to God, to
love Him and people at the expense of him- or herself.
Paul knew what loving God at any expense meant. He had lived
in wealth and poverty and learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found
himself. (Philippians 4:11-13) A true child of God, one who loves Him with all He
gives him or her, knows times of hardships will follow times of plenty and vis
versa. Paul spoke about not receiving God’s grace in vain in 2 Corinthians
6:3-10. He said not living life in vain means:
Giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God,in much endurance,
in afflictions,
in hardships,
in distresses,
in beatings,
in imprisonments,
in tumults,
in labors,
in sleeplessness,
in hunger,
in purity,
in knowledge,
in patience,
in kindness,
in the Holy Spirit,
in genuine love,
in the word of truth,
in the power of God,
by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
by glory and dishonor,
by evil report and good report,
regarded as deceivers and yet true,
as unknown yet well-known,
as dying yet behold, we live,
as punished yet not put to death,
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making rich,
as having nothing yet possessing all things. [NASB]
Every person wants to avoid the first ten items on Paul’s
list and have the next nine items. Yet, as Paul notes in the last nine items,
we each will have the whole list if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, if
we are in a saving relationship with God, and if we love the Lord with our
whole being. With any of the three parts of this list, we can make a “splash”
in the world, yet only when we love the Lord with our whole being will we make
a big splash for God. Only then will we be fishers of men.
God will provide all you need. Will you let Him use you for what He
wants?
Oh Lord, I have been
so blinded by the ways of the world so that I rarely see you at work through people
who are seemingly small in the world’s eyes. My looking at the world this way
means I have become useless for You through my life; I have closed myself down to
You. Lord, forgive me my short-sightedness, lack of understanding, and lack of growth.
Fill me with Yourself anew and grow me to be more like You. Help me draw close
to You again. Use me for Your will whether it means living in poverty or
wealth, sickness or health, obscurity or fame. I am never poor, dying, or
obscure in Your eyes. Your love for me is all that counts. Let my life count as
love for You. Amen.
