Lately, everywhere I turn, I hear Jesus asking, “Do you really love me?” In passage after passage he says, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” (John 14:15)

“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love…This is My commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you…You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15: 10, 12, 14)

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock…” (Matthew 7:24)

I sing about what a friend I have in Jesus, but do I truly obey him? Do I love my neighbor as myself?  As a demonstration of what it means to love your neighbor, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.  When was the last time I gave extensively of my time and resources to help a perfect stranger simply because they needed help?  Honestly, I’m far more likely to be like the priest and the Levite and walk by on the other side of the road, thinking either, “I’m too busy” or, “That person got themselves into the mess they’re in.”

I often act contrary to the leading of the Spirit, thinking to myself, God understands.  He will forgive my weakness this one time.  I even have people around me counsel that it’s OK because “we are saved by grace and not by works.”  But I know that Jesus didn’t save me just so I could go to heaven.  As much as he loves me, he loves the people around me.  If I am a member of the Body of Christ, if he is my Head, then it is up to me to do what he says, to carry out his will and not my own, by serving those around me “that they may see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16.) The Church is not a place I go; it is the Body of Jesus himself, walking around on the earth, doing what he does.

There is a passage that has long been troubling to me.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:23)

I wondered how someone could be doing these mighty works but not be doing the will of the Father.  The truth is, the one prophesying and driving out demons and performing miracles isn’t the human being at all, but the Holy Spirit working through that person.  Jesus calls them “workers of lawlessness,” in other words, those who disobey the commandments. Jesus doesn’t say, “If you love me, work miracles.”  He says, “If you love me, obey me.”

By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments… By this we know that we are in Him:  Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. (1 John 2: 3, 6)

This “abiding in him” is spoken of in many places, but here it clearly states what that looks like.  It’s not about going to church, or reading a devotional every morning, or memorizing scripture, or praying a lot, or talking about my faith.  He tells me what it looks like throughout the gospels:

Walk as Jesus walked.  Take up my cross and follow him.  Deny myself.  Lose my life for his sake.  What does this mean for me, today?? Jesus changed the lives of the people around him.  He got up before dawn to spend time with the Father, and then spent the day teaching, healing, delivering, discipling.  There were no wasted moments scrolling through social media or worrying about how he looked. Everything he did and said had purpose and meaning. I’m a long, far cry from walking as he walked. If I confess my sins, he is indeed faithful to forgive me, but I don’t want to continually repeat the cycle of sin > confess > sin > confess.  I want to be his friend, to show my love, to obey the first time, every time.

About a year ago during a time of worship, I had a quiet nudge to take a literal step forward in the place I was standing, as a sign of taking authority over that place for the kingdom of God.  It was a smaller step than Neil Armstrong took on the moon, but it has played a much bigger role in my life.  Because as I took the step, I experienced a sense of myself in Jesus and Him in me that I had never felt before.  It has stayed with me and to this day, I know, I sense, when I am walking in a direction that is NOT where he would go.  Simple things like making a snide remark about a family member, or indulging a “harmless” habit, or keeping the truth to myself out of fear it won’t be accepted or understood.  I can see myself walking away from Jesus with each of these acts.  He’s still there, but I’m not abiding in him.

The solution is simple. I just need to repent, which means to change my mind and my direction.  Instead of walking away on a path of my choosing, I choose to walk toward him in the direction he wants me to go. When I do, I experience far more joy and peace than when I go my own way.

What does it mean to you, to walk as Jesus walked?  What do you find helpful? Tell us in the comments!