Riff's Christian Journal

Do you know God? In 1 John 2: 3, 4 we read the following:

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

If you say that you know God but do not keep His commandments then, basically, you are lying. Giving you the benefit of the doubt it may be that you do not know what are His commandments.

If that is the case then the problem could be that you are in the wrong church or the person who is in the place of leadership and authority does not belong there. Either way you are to blame for what you know or do not know.

Knowing God should make one want to learn more about Him, what He thinks, what He says, what He has done and is still doing. You can only find that out for yourself by taking on the responsibility of reading the bible and studying it.

The importance of obeying God is made known even by what Jesus said to us. In John 14: 21, 23, 24 we read what Jesus says about obeying God:

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

If one truly knows God, they will have the desire to be obedient to Him. We will not be perfect at it because of our sin nature, but we will be trying to be obedient as much as possible, asking for God’s help in doing so and acknowledging our failures and asking for forgiveness.

Our obedience to the commands of God the Father and of our Lord Jesus shows that we know and love God. Anything else proves that we are just lying about our profession of faith.

How about you, are you obedient to the commandments of God? Do you show that you really know God the Father and that you love the Lord Jesus by your being obedient to their commands or, maybe you are just living a lie?

You may be able to fool your friends and family, but you cannot fool God. Remember, without proof of your faith your faith is dead, and so are you.