John 13:17 “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

This one statement could be applied to the whole Bible! Nothing in the Bible is to be left as abstract, theoretical knowledge; it is all to be applied to the business of living on this earth in right relationship to one another and to our heavenly Father. Phrased differently, it could be stated as, “Obedience brings blessings.” We focus, and rightly so, on the fact that we could never earn our salvation, but in the process we tend to forget that obedience is hardly irrelevant. Paul wrote about being rewarded for the quality of our service in the kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:12-15), on top of the fundamental blessing of salvation itself. This isn’t to take away from the magnitude of eternal salvation, but it is to say that what we do does make a difference. God is the judge of the quality of what we do, and His valuation often is at odds with the world’s. (Matthew 25:32-46) We are not to be working for rewards per se, but we are to be working to please our Lord, and it is helpful to remember that He is hardly stingy with rewards. Once again we are back to the simple fact that obedience to God and His Word brings blessings.

Having said that, I am back to something the Lord has had to point out to me countless times over the years, which is that knowing the Bible isn’t the same as putting it into practice. James famously dealt with that in James 1:22 and following. Jesus’ statement in today’s passage isn’t aimed at non-believers, it’s for disciples. There is a big risk of pride in Biblical/spiritual knowledge, but such knowledge is of real benefit only when it is put into practice in love. (1 Corinthians 8:1) I’m not to inflate my ego with how much of the Bible I can quote, but rather strive to put it into consistent practice, in humble, grateful obedience.

Father, Thank You for reminding me of this yet again. Help me indeed do what I know, not being satisfied with information but rejoicing to be Your agent for Your will to be done. Thank You for enabling me to figure out how to put tags on this blog, and for how many people have started responding immediately. Help me be a good steward of all You place in my hands and heart, to build up the Body of Christ for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!