John 15:9–11 (ESV)

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 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. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Sure enough, that last sentence is another purpose construction. The first “that” is hinna in the Greek and the first “may be” is in the subjunctive. (The second “that” and “may be” aren’t in the Greek, but including them in the English translation yields the correct meaning.)

So, why did Jesus tell them these things?

So that His joy may be in you, and your joy full.

This is important. The disciples are about to be in a world of hurt. Jesus has warned them in just about every way imaginable, but there’s no way they can be totally prepared for what’s coming.

So, Jesus tells them many things that they need to know “so that” they’ll have His joy fully.

Of course, this is long term; their joy will be full eventually.

But the next few days are going to be pain city.

This is a lesson for us too. You might call it “the secret of happiness” (or joy).

Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.

This sounds like legalism, but it’s not. It’s the secret of happiness, not the secret way to heaven.

Disobeying Jesus is the path to pain, in the same way that children disobeying their parents is the path to pain.

And notice how the parent thing works. A child disobeying his or her parent’s commands can lead to a spanking.

But that’s not the real point or the real pain. Disobey the command to look both ways before crossing the street, and a child might have pain that makes a spanking feel like eating cake. Sometimes, good advice is simply good advice.

The same principle holds for Jesus’s commandments. Violating them brings misery and pain. That’s definitely not the path to joy.

When the author of life gives you advice on how your joy may be full, you’d best pay attention.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.