“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

It is not without purpose that several times in John 14, Jesus emphasizes the importance of keeping His commandments. This should be instructive to us: there can be NO disconnect between “loving God” and keeping His commandments. There is a kind of person who says: “Yeah, I know what God says in His word, but I am not going to do that. I just love God, and that is all that matters.” NO! According to Jesus here, the one who loves God does not BREAK His commandments, but KEEPS them!

Think of this analogy: you say that you love your wife. There are certain things that she likes to have done in the house: she wants whoever eats to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and to put their dirty clothes in the hamper, and so on. If you love her, you will try to do those things which please her. If you totally ignore what she has asked you to do, how can you say with any credulity that you really love her? In light of your actions, your declaration doesn’t ring true.

Well in the same way, Jesus has told us some things that HE wants us to do: they are called His commandments! How do you know if you love Him? You keep His commandments. If you are not keeping His commandments, you do not love Him — no matter how much you protest otherwise!

And another thing: notice that Jesus says of the one who keeps His commandments, “I will disclose Myself to him.” Do you want to really know Jesus, deeper and better than ever before? The answer is not found is some “mystical” experience, but is revealed by Jesus right here: KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS! THAT is the person, Jesus says, to whom He will “disclose” Himself: “He who has My commandments and keeps them … I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.”