Keeping and Doing

Whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.   – 1 John 3:22

Perhaps you have heard someone say, “I actually am of two minds about that,” whatever the topic is. Or, similarly, “I have half a mind to [take some kind of action].” Both are indicators of a double-minded person. When the apostle John wrote his epistles, he was in his later years. He had been with Jesus, seen Him crucified and risen, been part of the faithful who had taken the Gospel beyond Jerusalem, and was serving as the Bishop of Asia Minor from Ephesus. He spoke to those to whom he wrote letters as a loving parent speaking to “his little children,” and his primary emphasis was on love. 

John had recorded how Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15) and “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). Today’s verse says you will receive what you ask of the Lord if you keep His commandments. How is your love quotient? Doing what pleases God is the second half of what is expected of you. There are many more verses on doing what pleases God. Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love,” and Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” The bottom line in pleasing God is to have an intimate, close, worshipful, and trusting relationship with Him.

As you pray today, ask God to show you where you might need improving in “keeping” and “doing.” The Holy Spirit will surely guide you. The result will be a settled mind. Then pray for the judges across the nation to recognize that there are laws higher than those in their volumes of cases and judgments and that a relationship with the Supreme Law Giver is essential to rendering justice for the nation.