If ye love me, keep my commandments

Today's scripture mastery is a short one.  It is John 14:15.  I actually already quoted the entire verse in the title of this post, but here it is again:

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Though the verse is very short, it is very profound.  We show our love for Jesus by keeping His commandments. 

What are the commandments that we should keep?

To answer that question, let me answer by repeating the verses found in Matthew 22, where a lawyer asked Jesus what the "great commandment" (meaning the most important commandment) is.  He responded with these verses:

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, we are willing to give to Him the only thing that is truly ours to give--our free will.  God has given to us everything that we have.  The air we breathe, our lives, and  all the beautiful things in the world are ours only temporarily.  If we give to him our heart, mind, and soul by obeying him, we are giving to the Lord the only thing that He will never take from us by force.

I can't explain this concept as well as king Mosiah did.  He was a righteous king who taught his people about this concept.  He explained it this way (Mosiah 2:21-26):

 21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

 25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

 26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

It is amazing to me how much love Christ constantly shows to me! When I keep his commandments to show my love for Him, He turns the table on me!  He blesses me much more than I deserve... 

I would like to finish today's post by quoting one of my favorite Hymns.  It is called "I Stand All Amazed"(click the link to hear the music of the hymn as well)

1. I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

[Chorus]
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

2. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

3. I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.