1 John 3:16 AMPC
[16] By this we come to know (progressively to recognize, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [in Him].
The devotion for yesterday highlights the words of Jesus to His disciples, and we reflected on His standards and expectations for all who claim to know and follow Him. The verse above are the words of someone who took the words of Jesus from yesterday and personalised them. We do not know which John this was, but we know from the beginning of this letter that he was someone who had heard, seen, looked at and touched the Word of Life. He could testify to the Word and was able to proclaim the Word with utmost confidence, inviting others to come into fellowship with the Word and take advantage of the benefits and blessings available in union with the Word. It may sound like a lot but it is just simple a call to all who want to experience the version of love that is God to come in and take freely of it. There is really no price to pay except absolute trust and surrender to Jesus, and a commitment to daily living in line with His commands.
The verse above also lays it out clearly that wr may not get it right from the start, but we are allowed to grow into the knowledge and personal experience of the love that is in Christ. We come into it with the baggage from our past, and we become exposed to love that we have never known. The love of God embraces our hearts and cleanses us from the weight of our past, freeing us to be able to extend the same grace we have received to other people around us. It is a lifelong learning experience, and we would never be able to fully exhaust the lessons on this side of eternity. As this love is the person of God Himself, we will again continue to experience this love when we translate to heaven. I must therefore make every effort to learn as much as I can about this love of God, so that I can also show it to other people, in line with the mandate I have received from the One who first showed it to me. You have to be IN it to be able to progressively recognize, perceive and understand it, so you can apply it the right way.
As with all things that God commands, be sure that God will not demand from you that which He has not first given sufficient grace for. If He shows me love, it is because He knows that the new nature in me is able to make use of it, and also extend it to other people. Even the gift of salvation is first personal, but it does not stay personal, and it must be extended to other people too. This love too has been given to me, and it is quite important that others too experience that love. The verse above points me in the direction of my fellow brethren as the start point, because this is now my new family, connected by the blood of Jesus shed for all of us. The blood makes us one family, and this is what families do: they focus on the Interest and well-being of the common good. As Jesus laid down His life for me so that I could take hold of His nature, so does He expect me to strive to replicate His nature in the lives around me. The world needs to know that there is a Love that is different from the fake version it holds on to. Can God trust you with this assignment? God's time of favour is here.
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