For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous [1 John 5:3].
The New Scofield Reference Bible
has changed “grievous” to burdensome.
I’m not going to quarrel with that because it is a good translation, but the
literal is really, heavy.
His commandments are not heavy. This does not mean that they are difficult
to keep but rather that they do not impose a burden when they are kept. John
is saying that the child of God wants
to keep His commandments. It is something that he wants to practice; it is
not difficult for him to do these things at all. The little girl who was
carrying a big, heavy baby was asked by a concerned woman, “Little girl,
isn’t that baby too heavy for you?” The child replied, “He’s not heavy. He’s
my brother.” It makes all the difference in the world, you see, when he’s
your brother. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:
and his commandments are not grievous.” The point is that they impose no
burden on us because we are keeping them through love.
The story is told about a man and his family who years
ago drove into a little town in Oklahoma in a covered wagon. They stopped at
the town store to talk to the owner as he sat on an apple box out in front
of the store. “What kind of town is this here?” they asked him. The
storekeeper said, “Well, what kind of town did you come from?” “Oh,” the man
said, “we came from a wonderful town. Everybody there seemed to know each
other, seemed to care about each other, and had a concern for each other.
They were very wonderful people. We really hated to leave, but we wanted to
move west. We’re not sure where to settle down. What kind of town is this?”
The storekeeper said, “This is just the same kind of town which you left.
It’s that kind of town.” The man said, “Well, then, I think maybe we’ll
settle here,” and they drove on down the street.
In a little while another covered wagon drove up in front
of the little store. The man asked the storekeeper, “What kind of town is
this?” So the storekeeper again said, “What kind of town did you leave?” “We
were glad to get away from it,” the man said. “They were some of the meanest
people that I have ever met. They were never very neighborly or very
helpful. We never had any friends there, and that’s the reason we left.” The
storekeeper told him. “Well, I think you are going to find this is the same
kind of town. We are the same kind of people.” And the second man decided to
drive on.
Another citizen of the town who had been sitting there
with the storekeeper said, “Wait a minute! What do you mean by giving those
two men two different viewpoints of this town?” And the storekeeper replied,
“I’ve learned that any town will be the same kind of town that you have
left—because you will be the same kind of person.”
May I say to you, the child of God ought to recognize
that he is not to be looking for someone to do something for him, but he is
to be expressing love in real action and in real concern for others. “By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another” (John 13:35). If you love the Lord Jesus, if you love your heavenly
Father, you are going to love other believers. You will know that you are
keeping His commandments, and they will not be a burden to you at all. The
Lord Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt.
11:30). It will be heavy unless you have the real love for the Lord and you
truly want to serve Him. Then church work and other ministries will never
become difficult.
Dr. Ironside taught this epistle of John while I was in
seminary, and he told us this story:
Some time ago I read of a man who
spent a few months in India. When he came back, he was discussing India at
the home of some of his friends, and the talk drifted to missions, and this
man, out of his wide experience, about five months in India, said, “I have
no use for missions and missionaries. I spent months there, and didn’t see
that they were doing anything; in fact, in all that time I never met a
missionary. I think the church is wasting its money on missions.” A quiet
old gentleman sat near. He had not said anything, but now spoke up and said,
“Pardon me; how long did you say you were in India?”
“Five months.”
“What took you there?”
“I went out to hunt tigers.”
“And did you see any tigers?”
“Scores of them.”
“It is rather peculiar,” said the
old gentleman, “but I have spent thirty years in India, and in those years I
never saw a tiger but I have seen hundreds of missionaries. You went to
India to hunt tigers and you found them. I went to India to do missionary
work and found many other missionaries.”
It’s owing to what you are looking for, my friend. Are
you concerned about God’s work today? Are you concerned about getting out
God’s Word? Some folk say, “Well, I don’t see that much progress is being
made.” You just don’t happen to be where the action is, for the Word of God
is going out, and
it is having its effect in hearts and lives.
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible
Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997,
c1981, S. 5:812-813