“If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?” (John 7:23, ESV).

This, of course, is Jesus speaking. He’s talking to the Pharisees. So why were the Pharisees angry? They perceived being circumcised on the Sabbath as following God’s law, but they perceived Jesus healing on the Sabbath as breaking God’s law.

In the lesson on Hosea 6:6, I talked about God desiring love over sacrifice (Lesson 35). This is what the Pharisees were missing. They were missing the love part of obedience. Yes, God desires obedience. But why? So we can be with Him, so He can be with us. He’s a holy God and sin separates us from Him.

Sin caused the separation, the breakdown of relationship back in the garden. Sin caused the separation of God having to remove His presence from the Israelites abandoning His presence in the ark and in the tabernacle. Sin causes the separation; it sends Jesus outside knocking on the door to be let in. God’s not after our obedience. He’s not on a power trip and needs to control us and see us bow before Him in cowering submission. He’s not in this for Himself. He is love. Love is not selfish. He’s in this for us. He’s after us. He’s wants to woo us. His desire is for us. He doesn’t want to see us going after other loves. That’s why He is a jealous God. He knows we are His and should be with Him. He knows that only His love can satisfy. He knows that any other love will ultimately destroy us. He wants to save us. He wants us to be perfectly loved.

Yes, we need to obey God, but we can’t on our own. We need to keep His Word by keeping our eyes on Him, and keeping His Word before us and in us. But that’s a result, a reaction of loving Him. We need to love Him. And of course, we love because He first loved us. It’s all from Him, but we need to receive it all from Him. We need to ask of Him, look to Him for His love, His salvation. We need to choose to keep our eyes on Him and to turn from other loves. We need to choose to walk in obedience, which looks like love.

Remember, the law is summed up: “Love God and love others.” That means things like being patient, kind, selfless toward others; that’s your calling. That’s your task. Even simplified to love God and love others, you can’t do it on your own. We need His love to be able to love Him and others. We receive His love by His Spirit being poured out into our hearts. It’s a free gift. We just need to receive. Ask. He loves to give the Spirit to those who ask!