My dad was a big Johnny Cash fan. As a result of listening to his music in my childhood, I know all of Johnny Cash’s songs, and one of them in particular really stands out to me these days: “I Walk the Line”!

The words go like this:

“I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you’re mine, I walk the line.”

The lyrics continue with lines such as these:

“I find it very, very easy to be true…”

“Yes, I’ll admit that I’m a fool for you…”

“You’ve got a way to keep me on your side…”

“For you, I know I’d even try to turn the tide…”

Etc.

The song, of course, is written to in a worldly sense. The singer had finally found true love, and as a result, it was not hard to be faithful to the woman of his dreams.

I am happy to say that I also found true love early on in my life. Once I met the woman who would one day be my wife and life-long companion, it wasn’t hard at all to be faithful to her! That’s what true love does: It makes it easy to be there for someone.

I want to say, however, that I also found another true love, the truest of loves possible…

For those of you who don’t know my story, I spent my early adult life involved in a strict religious cult. I served the Lord out of fear that disobedience would result in not going to Heaven. I tried everything in my power to follow God’s rules, but no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to slip up. And I will admit that sometimes I wanted to quit! If that was the requirements of the God I served, then why would I even want to be in Heaven with Him?

But God was calling me out of religion and into relationship. It took me awhile, for the concept of a loving God was completely foreign to me. But He kept pouring out His love upon me and around me, until one day He finally got my attention. By the power of His sweet Spirit, I began to understand that the God I knew was nothing but a very poor man-made representation of the God who is. And as He continued to lovingly draw me in, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Him!

You see, this True Love, the one that comes from God, proved His love by sending Jesus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:1l6 NIV); and “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV). And what I would learn at this point came as a total shock to me: This true God who loved me so much still had rules to be followed, and these rules didn’t look so different from the ones I had been brought up with! What blew me away was that I realized for the first time that God’s rules aren’t about some dictator trying to maintain control! Rather, they were given to us out of love, because the God of love knows what we need to have true happiness in life!

What REALLY astounded me, however, was that suddenly I found myself wanting to obey these rules! It was truly just like the words of that old Johnny Cash song: Because God was mine, I wanted to walk the line! I wanted to always be on my guard for things that might separate me from my true Love, the Lover of my soul! There were times when I felt all alone; but even — and especially! — in these moments, I wanted to stay true to God, for I knew that the closeness with Him would return! In fact, I realized that the fact that I didn’t feel close to God was because I wasn’t following the rules! After all, it is written: “…your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2 NIV). And suddenly I knew that as a result of this love, the love He had for me, yes, but also the love that was growing in my heart for Him, I would do everything for Him! I can truly say, Because God is mine, I walk the line!

Let’s remember that it is LOVE that draws us, not fear: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18 NIV). Perhaps you have never fully understood this text. I hadn’t either. Not until I came face to face with True Love. Now I understand. We cannot love what we fear! When we are afraid it is because we fear the consequences; but there are no negative consequences in perfect love.

Have you fallen in love with the God of the universe? If you have not, then you will understand how hard it is to keep His laws. Once you have fallen in love with Him, then you will begin to understand that it is because He is ours that we not only can obey His rules, but we also want to!

Because God is Mine, I walk the line!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries