A man was once appointed to a special traffic committee in his city to improve the laws for safety. He enthusiastically attended all the meetings, made numerous suggestions and proposals, and voted for better enforcement of regulations. But often, when returning from work late at night, he drove right through the stop signs along the way and exceeded the speed limits in his hurry to get home. To him, many of these same laws for safety did not mean what they should have meant. It is not enough just to believe in a law, a rule, or a commandment. If we do not obey it, we prove by our actions that it means nothing to us.
John was delighted to hear the "some" in the Christian community had been living in accord with God's truth, but he urged even greater love and obedience as a sign of the believer's devotion to Christ. The true believer is a "doer" of the word not just a "hearer." James notes: For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does (James 1:23-25).
God is happy when He sees His children seeking for the truth and studying His Word to learn His commandments. Parents who tell their children to be Christ-like should then show them how by their own example. Obedient sons and daughters are a blessing to any home and will find it easier to be faithful Christians and useful citizens as they grow older. Because we love Him, we endeavor to walk in this truth, to obey it, and to be doers of this truth, not just hearers.
“I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.”
2 John 1:4 KJV
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