September 19, 2023
Sticking To The Basics
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:10-11 (NASB)
My son played soccer many years ago. I coached his team for six years as they moved up to a different age bracket. He started when he was about 11, and ended when he moved into his senior year. I had a chance to see him grow up, and spend time investing in other boys' lives. When I first started coaching, there was another team that was for the “select” (or more experienced) players. I had all the beginners. We stuck to the basics of the game and got good. The first year we didn’t do great, but the players were becoming better. The second year towards the end of the season, we were matched in a scrimmage game against the “select team.” We beat them like a rag doll scoring 6-1. As the years went by, more players started using the fancy moves they saw on the internet by professional players. One hurt his knee. I decided it wasn’t working for the team, so we went back to the basics. We won 95% of our games that season. Later, 90% of the players I coached went on to win the Florida State Championship in high school. It made me proud to see the kids loving the game and playing like they loved it. Their love for the game made all the difference in the outcome.
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” We return to the word “abiding,” once again. This time it refers to “abiding in My love.” The verb “abiding,” is the action to the noun which is “commandments.” In abiding, we keep God’s commandments. This abidingcomes when the child of God loves His Father so much that he/she doesn’t want to disobey. This is because of his/her love for Him. It is much like the relationship of children with a father. When the children love their father, it is natural that they want to please him. The same is true with the child of God. It is “… the obedient spirit of true discipleship cherishing and attracting the continuance and increase of Christ’s love; and this, He adds, was the secret even of His abiding in His Father’s love!”[1] Jesus is the example, which should be our goal. For Jesus, it was not a command to love His Father, it came naturally as we do for ourselves. For us too it should not be a command we fear, but an embrace of loving God each day. “… joy grows out of absolute obedience to the Father and the perfect unity of love they share.”[2]
I remember players expressing trust in me throughout the seasons. They trusted me, but it took time. When a game looked dismal, we faced it together. We stuck to the basics and began to see successes ahead. It was only because there was trust, and sticking to the basics. The basics for Christians are where many today get stuck. Many are looking to somehow “level up” in their faith, when pleasing God is so simple from the beginning. We don’t need to learn how to get better for God. We need to spend time with Him. It comes naturally when we stick to the basics, like loving God with our heart, soul, and mind. It’s not about a different plain where we operate more spiritually. We are already spiritual by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit who lives within the believer. When we do, we experience a “joy that may be made full.”
[1] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 157). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2] Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John (p. 486). United Bible Societies.