Daily Devotionals

Bowen's Daily Meditations

Devotional: June 9th

"If a man love me he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." - John 14:23.

Jude wanted to know how the manifestation of Christ unto his people exclusively, was to be effected. Christ in reply, says, that the believer has something and God something to do; it does not concern the believer to know how God will do his part; all that concerns him is to know how he is to do his part. Let him then keep the words of Christ, and the manifestation will be brought about; the Godhead shall take up its abode with him; let him keep the words of Christ, and he will keep Christ with him; let the words of God abide with him, and God will abide with him.

To know how to keep the words of Christ is the most important of all knowledge; to keep them is the most important of all works.

The best of all teachers in this thing is love. Love of Christ will not allow us to make light of any word of Christ. It views the memory as a consecrated room fitted up for the reception of the words of its object. The words of a man embody his character; - imperfectly however; - for who is without guile? The words of Christ give us Christ himself. They tell me what he loves; in other words what he wishes me to be; and I must keep them perpetually that I may know what I should perpetually be. I cannot keep the words of Christ and remove out of the path of Christ; or if they then abide with me, it is to torture me, and I can have no peace, till I make my way, wounded and wearied, back to the king’s highway. While I keep the words of Christ, I keep the tempter at a distance; I thwart his endeavors as Christ himself thwarted them. Let me keep the words of Christ, and the principles of this world shall find no place in me. In keeping the words of Christ, I keep the watchword by which I have access at all times to the throne of God’s heavenly grace. Let me keep them then in affection, in memory, in faith, in obedience, in prayer.

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