His Commandments are not Grievous

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” (I John 5:2-3)

Vance Havner, an evangelist who boldly proclaimed the word of God for seventy-three years, was expounding on John 14:15 which says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Dr. Havner, in his Carolina drawl said, “If you don’t love Him, just forget it.”

Approximately twenty-five times the word, “know” is used in the First Epistle of John. Most often it is used in the context of loving God or loving other believers being an indication of whether or not we are one of His.

It is easy enough to look like a child of God to others on Sunday morning. It is another thing to convince the Father and to convince ourselves.  John said that God’s commandments are not grievous. That applies to the middle of the week as well as Sunday morning.