Thursday 11 May 2023

May 11: John 15:9-11

Key Verse: John 15:9
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

Devotion:
This continues to be another of my favourite passages but as I was reading it today I couldn’t help think of the difference between Jesus and us. Here Jesus is telling the disciples how He loves them with the same love God loves Him – as the Son of God. He continues to say this is partly because He has kept God’s commands. This is where the big difference raises it’s ugly head… We will always struggle to keep God’s commands because of the lives we live.

Jesus came to live amongst us as a human being to show that anything is possible with God. He came and lives a sinless life as a human and followed the will of His Father in heaven. How was that possible? By dedicating His entire life to God and not just a day a week or now and again!

Yes, this is a big ask from us because we are born into a sinful world and we live amongst sinful people. We are stained by the evil which surrounds us and we give in to some of it some of the time because it seems easier to do this when we think it does not affect anyone else – but it does affect God!

Christ must have had so many wonderful experiences of people coming to have this personal relationship with God through His teachings and His actions. People would always crowd around Jesus to see what He would do next or to get some sort of blessing or healing from Him. Christ gave out that teaching and healing with love and joy – how are we treating the people around us?

Points to Ponder:
Do you give to everyone around you?

Will you try to be more like Jesus today?