Obedience Leads to Joy
What does it mean to remain within the love of Jesus?
Verse of the Day
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
Today’s Devotional
Told us what things? What things will fill me with joy??
If we go back to the verses prior to this statement, Jesus is telling us that we have to “remain” in Him, that we should expect to be “pruned”, and that we should be fruitful. Great. But what does all of that mean?
Let me propose a theory.
I love to scuba dive. I love the wonder and beauty of the ocean. And while it is so beautiful, it is also a little bit scary. There is one really important part of scuba diving, and that is my air tank (and the equipment that allows me to breathe). Without it, I cannot survive under the water.
What if we looked at “remaining” in Jesus the way I look at my air tank? As necessary for my survival and ability to enjoy the beauty around me. Jesus tells us what it means to remain in His love. John 15:10 says: “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love”. Obedience is my air tank. Obedience is what allows me to be filled with overflowing joy.
Let me give you a recent example of what this looked like in my life. A few weeks ago, I was invited to an event in honor of a friend of mine. As it got closer to time for the event, I did not want to go. Not because I did not want to honor my friend, I was just too busy. A day or two before, I prayed about whether or not to go. It became very clear to me that I needed to prioritize the actions that are the most loving for the people in my life over my own specific desires. So I went. Even though I didn’t really want to go. As I was walking to my car after it was over, I had a huge smile on my face. I knew I had been obedient to God’s call to love others. And there’s no other way to describe it other than to say that it felt really good. I think that’s what joy feels like. It’s a happiness that comes from God as we choose to obey Him, even when we don’t want to.
(I feel like I need to insert a disclaimer here and say that I don’t have many examples like this. I am the farthest thing from a selfless saint. Those who know me well will attest to this.)
Obedience might look like: prioritizing my time so that I spend time with God each day, choosing prayer over worry, choosing to put the needs of others above my own, being kind, pursuing peace, praising God, finding ways to serve others, sharing my faith, keeping my opinions to myself, being generous, being truthful, finding gratitude, and many other actions.
I believe Jesus is telling us here that choosing obedience is the life-giving breath for joy. And just like I cannot survive under the ocean without my air tank, perhaps my joy cannot survive without my obedience.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Do you believe that obedience can lead to joy?
How can you tell God and show Him that you want to remain in His love today?
In what ways can you be obedient to God today?
How can you do whatever it takes to be filled with overflowing joy?