John 15:10-12

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
John 15:10-12


God gives us commandments and asks us to live a certain way.  Sometimes I think we see this as overly demanding or restrictive.  We want to live however the crap we want, and still have God's love, and still have all the blessings, and we think that God is really mean to withhold anything from us for not following some stupid rules.  I wonder if we consider whether this is the way the universe works though.  No matter how much we get mad at gravity, it is going to keep pulling us down, not letting us drift off into space.  I think it is the same with God's laws.  They aren't arbitrary things that God made up to keep us as controlled unhappy slaves.  It's the way things work.
If we obey the laws that allow us to have God's spirit with us, then it will be... and we'll get to feel God's love and have his guidance all the time. He tells us the commandments because he knows that in following them, we'll learn true joy.  And one of the laws is that we should love... love not in the selfish, possessive way that we sometimes interpret love... but love as Christ loves us.  As he loved people when he was on the earth.  Forgiving, blessing, healing... teaching, helping, even feeding.  Taking care of people, and blessing their lives.  Today, let's tap into the way the world works by listening to God... doing as he asks.  Loving others, so that we can be filled with love and joy.  Seems like a really, really positive law for everyone. :)