"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." (John 15:10, NASB)
The "ifs" of the Bible spoil things for our fleshly nature. Here is another one: "You are My friends if you do what I command you." (v.14)
How would a worship service go if we sang the song, "I am a friend of God, I am a friend of God, I am a friend of God, He calls me friend"------ Oh, that is, "....if [I] do what [He] command[s me]."
Father, in Jesus' Name, deliver me from any flippancy. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
