If He is your God

…you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me.

You do not know him… (John 8:54-55)

I was looking at a comment a friend made on social media this morning. She says she’s a Christian, but of late, she has occasionally said things contradictory to God’s teaching that make me wonder.

The Pharisees and religious leaders were much the same way. They claimed to know God, but Jesus said they did not truly know him.

Why?

Because they didn’t listen to him.

Earlier he told them,

If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God. (John 8:46-47)

The word “listens” has the idea of not just physically hearing something, but also following it. Of obeying it.

The question is, what do we do with God’s words. With Jesus’ words?

We can’t claim to belong to God if we pick and choose what we like from his Word while discarding the rest.

If we truly belong to God, we will listen, embrace, and obey. And in doing so, we find freedom.

And life.

The question is, “Will we trust our good King?”

I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life…

If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:12, 31-32)