Thursday Reading: John 17:1-3
Key Verse: John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Devotion:
It is truly an amazing thing that Jesus Christ should come to earth as a human being so that He could do so much for us; and He did this knowing what was ahead, knowing what had to be done, knowing the rejection, knowing the sin, knowing the future… How many of us would be willing to go forward knowing that we are going to be beaten, mocked, reviled and abused? How many of us are willing to step forward just to show others that we do love them?
It seems such an easy choice to make up front saying that we will always go forward in the name of Christ and that we shall always be here so that He can use us at every opportunity. But actually stepping forward again after you have been beaten or mocked or abused is not that easy for us. We like to think that we can withstand all those things in the name of Jesus our Lord, but when we get faced with the physical results we do tend to shy away.
Our Lord does know what is in our hearts and He knows that we may well ultimately fail when pushed to the extreme but He is always going to be here for us. He has proved it from the beginning and continues to prove it year after year. He has shown us just how much He loves us by coming to die on the cross for us in the face of such extreme adversity. He has shown us that He does not flinch. He has shown us that He steps forward time after time. He has shown us that He is willing to wait for us to see our shortcomings and to bring our burdens to Him. He has shown us that He is willing for forgive each and every sin that we bring to Him in humbleness and respect.
He did this at a time when nobody else would bother. He did this when everyone else had failed. He did this, just because He loves us so much. What an Awesome God we have!
Points to Ponder:
What does it take for you to give up?
Have you seen how much He has given for you?