If You Love Jesus…

February 17, 2026

Do you love Jesus? I mean really love Him? It is of utmost importance that we develop a true love for Jesus, because loving Him is the key to a deeper, more satisfying, more obedient spiritual life. Here is what I mean: Jesus said to His apostles in John 14, “…If anyone loves me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23 NASB95). What tremendous promises flow from loving Jesus! Loving Jesus leads us to obeying Jesus. Loving Jesus leads to receiving a special love from the Father Himself. Loving Jesus leads to the Father and Son coming into us to live within us. But it all starts with love!

Let us examine the first part of Jesus’ statement: “If anyone loves me, he will keep My word.” Notice that love comes first and obedience is the result. If we love Him, then we will obey Him.

And don’t we have every reason to love Jesus? We love Jesus because of what He has done. It was Jesus who loved us first. It was Jesus who sought us out while we were yet sinners. It was Jesus who gave His life for us when we had nothing to offer Him in return. His death on our behalf was the ultimate expression of love for us. Not only this, but we love Jesus because of who He is. We marvel at His power, His grace, His humility, His compassion. As we think of these attributes of Jesus, how could we not love Him?

And what does it mean to love Him? It may be helpful to think about what it means to love the special people in your life. We delight in the people we love. We are drawn to them because of their qualities. We want to be near to them. In a similar way, to love Jesus is to cherish Him for who He is, to delight in Him, and to desire a close relationship with Him.

And this kind of love for Jesus is the key to living a life of obedience. Think about this: the next time you are faced with temptation, think about your love for Jesus. Say to Him, “Lord, I will turn away from my sinful desires because I love you so much.” Say to yourself, “How could I hurt my Lord Jesus by continuing in this sin?”  Our love for Him is a powerful motivator to keep walking with Him.

Today, let us reflect on all the many reasons we have for loving Jesus. May our love for Him control every aspect of our lives and empower a willing, joyful obedience to Him that comes from the heart.

—Scott Colvin

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Jesus’ Sheep Hear His Voice

November 11, 2025

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28 NASB95)

Jesus’ sheep hear His voice. This plain statement of Jesus has caused me to reflect on my own preaching and teaching, and I hope it will stir reflection in all among us who proclaim the word of God. What can we learn from Jesus’ words?

First, we should not be surprised or disappointed if some do not respond when we faithfully proclaim the words of Jesus. This very thing happened to Jesus Himself. He said to the Jews who would not accept Him, “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep” (John 10:26). There will always be people in the world who simply do not care to hear or learn from God (John 6:45). They are not Jesus’ sheep; therefore, they do not respond to His voice.

Second, we should never modify or water down the words of Jesus in any way in order to bring more people in. There are many in the religious world who do just that. Many will try to make the words of Jesus more exciting, more entertaining, and more in line with modern-day thinking. The message may be softened in order to get more people in the pews. This is a very serious error that injures both the saved and the lost. It injures the saved, who are already a part of Jesus’ flock, because they want to hear the voice of Jesus in every sermon and in every class. They long to hear His voice!  They will follow His voice!  If we don’t let the flock hear the clear and powerful voice of the Great Shepherd, we are doing enormous harm to the church. But modifying the message does great harm to the lost, as well. There are people in the world who are searching for God, who want to hear the truth, and will respond very positively to the voice of Jesus (the blind man of John 9 is a perfect example of this). But if we do not give these people the clear, unadulterated words of Jesus, how will they become a part of his flock?  We might think that we’re doing a good thing by softening the message and making it more “entertaining,” but in the end, what have we done?  We’ve kept the seekers from hearing the voice of Jesus (to which they would have responded) and offered a watered-down gospel to those who will reject Jesus anyway. But if we preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), if Christ’s word resonates from our pulpit and our classrooms, then we can really help both the saved and the lost.

Jesus’ sheep hear His voice. May it always be said of this church body that the word of Jesus is boldly and clearly proclaimed!

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin