Knowing First

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2:3 (ESV)

Long before satellites, a ship's captain had no glowing screen to tell him where land was. He locked his eyes on the night sky and steered his ship based on what he saw there. Sailors had a word for that: they "kept" the stars. They fixed their eyes there and refused to look away. John uses that same word in 1 John 2:3 for the way you "keep" God's commandments.

But John is careful about which direction this works. He does not say you know God because you keep His commandments. He says you keep His commandments because you know Him. Knowing comes first. Obedience follows. Get that order backward, and you perform and strive without stopping.

Jesus says the same thing clearly in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," and again a few verses later, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." (v. 21) This was never about rules for their own sake. Obedience is vital to your spiritual health, the same way breathing is necessary to stay alive.

So why do many people often feel like obedience is the opposite of life? Why do we feel like something is being taken from us instead of something keeping us alive? C.S. Lewis argued the opposite. He said that when you want something other than what God wants for you, you're wanting something that won't actually make you happy, even if it feels like freedom in the moment. God's commands can sound like orders to us, he said, and least like the words of someone who loves us. 

But in reality, they're steering us exactly where we'd want to go if we understood what we really wanted.

Think about one decision still tugging at you. Maybe it’s a conversation, a habit, a relationship. Ask yourself, “What does God’s Word say about this?” Let God's Word, not your own reasoning, be your fixed point. Steer by what He says, not by what you're guessing.

Prayer: Lord, I've been steering by guesswork instead of by You. I'm fixing my eyes on Your Word for the decision I keep avoiding. Show me that obedience is the way toward the life You actually want for me. In Jesus' name, amen.