Monday Reading: John 15:9-13
Key Verse: John 15:9
9 As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; continue in My love.
Devotion:
One thing that continues to amaze me is how much God does love us through Jesus Christ. Just one small sentence is His Word can also mean so much to us too; take verse 9 for instance. At first glance it may not mean so much for those who see it for the first time; I mean, we even tell people that we love them as much as other people. But when we realise that Jesus compared His love for us with God’s public love for Him then we have to think twice. God openly declared His love for Jesus through an audible voice from heaven! God appointed Jesus as the head of the church and He then turns round to us and says that He loves us that much too!
We have been described with many names is the bible from the not so nice through to His children. He took on the very nature of a human being so that He could declare His love for us in a way that we can not only relate to but aspire to. His declaration to us is honest but also carries an expected stance from us. He wants us to follow His commandments so that we can receive the most of His love that He can supply. If we are continually sinning then He can declare His love for us but cannot approach us when we are full on sin. We need to admit to that sin, asking for His forgiveness so that He can then be with us continually.
We can understand part of what His love means by following His commandment by trying to love one another. Sometimes it is very difficult to love someone else when they are seemingly doing wicked things against you – think how Christ must feel. Jesus wants us to see that His love for us extends far beyond the simple love that we maintain with others by seeing that He willingly gave His life for us. We may never understand why He chose to love us but we can understand part of what we mean to Him through what He has done for us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you always love others?
Do you know Christ loved you first?
