An Article of Faith

In departing from God, we follow a progression from a shift of the heart, to a lack of obedience, to turning to substitutes for God. Usually, by the time God gets our attention, we have been going that way for a long time. Just as a divorce begins when a couple gradually grows apart, we don’t suddenly jump away from God. It usually takes time – a period of neglect, carelessness, or rebellious choices.

The symptoms may have been present in our lives for a long time, but somehow we fail to pay attention until we are far away from Him. We take small steps away from God. Suddenly we realize we have departed and are far from Him.

How do you know whether your heart has shifted away from God? Two signs are clear indicators. First, lack of obedience and turning to substitutes for God. As a doctor looks for symptoms of the real problem, you can look for these symptoms as indications of a problem with your love for God.

If anyone loves Me,” says Jesus, “he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My Words; and the Word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23-24).

Do you see the connection between the heart and obedience? Jesus says that it is spiritually impossible to love Him and not obey Him. The problem is not obedience; the problem is love. If you do not obey, it is because your heart has shifted away from God.

Love will always obey. But we protest and say, “Lord, it’s not a matter than I don’t love you; it’s that I’m having difficulty obeying You.” And God would say, “If you are having difficulty obeying Me, it is because you do not love Me.” If you do not understand that, you will always be trying to get right with God. You will try to reform your behavior, and you will fail. You can try to straighten out the walls of your life, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but if you don’t fix the faulty foundation, the repairs will be short-lived.

We have a tendency to treat the symptoms instead of the cause. Do you know how to solve the problem of disobedience? Return to your first love for God. If you want to correct your disobedience or your lack of obedience, the place to begin is the heart. If you return to your first love – a love relationship with God – you will resolve the obedience problems in your life:

“If anyone loves Me,” says Jesus, “he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My Words; and the Word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23-24).

If today you realize that your heart has turned away from the Lord, ask Him to show you how to begin returning to your first love for Him:

“We love,” writes John, “because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Ask God to rekindle a deep love for Him. Think about His love demonstrated for you through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross for you sins, and thank Him now for His indescribable gift of eternal life (2 Corinthians 9:15)!

(Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.)