Thursday 28 Oct 2021

October 28: John 15:9-17
 
Key Verse: John 15:17
This is my command: love each other.

Devotion:
Often we think of love in terms of how much we give someone... We think of love as being able to be measured by what we do whilst being measured in worldly term; like it cost a lot to buy such-and-such for you therefore I must love you...
 
Love doesn’t work like that and Jesus wanted people to realise this. Far too many people were thinking like this in the temples. They measured their love for God by how much they gave in tithes or how much time they spent in the temple. What Jesus was trying to teach was not a new way of loving but a true way of loving. Yes I know we do go further because we love people and we do buy more because we love etc, but this is not a measuring stick to measure love by.
 
What Jesus was hinting here at was the willingness to carry on giving and carry on obeying. Love is not a once off how much can we give, but are we willing to continue giving even when the going gets tough. Jesus wanted people to show God their love by obeying Him too; not just saying they do, but actually obeying God! Jesus showed us His love by giving right up until the end. He did not brag about how much He would give only to step aside at the last moment – Jesus gave and continued to give even when it meant giving His life!
 
God does not want us to be servants who have to obey Him and do exactly what He says when He says it – that is not love but duty. God wants us to be willing to give I.e. give because we want to give and not because we have to give. Jesus showed us His love by doing some pretty extraordinary things. He continues to show us His love by answering our prayers and by continuing to give to us – even now!
 
Points to Ponder:
How far do you go to prove your love?
 
Will you simply obey God to show Him you love Him?