Daily Devotion May 3

May 3: 1 John 4:7-12

KJV Key Verse: 1 John 4:11
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Devotion:
The apostle writes about full and fervent Christian love here describing it as coming from God because He is the foundation and author of love. When Christ described the most important law, He said it was love because all of the other laws hinge on love as being at the core of everything. Each one of us who get to know God get to know part of this love and, hopefully, exercise this love in everyday living. It is this love which allows us to have a better understanding of our relationship with God and with others.

If we do not know love then how can we get to understand God and His ways? If we do not know love then how can we go out and love others showing them what Christ came to do for us? It is Christ who came to earth as a man and showed us the ultimate sacrifice sharing His love for us in a way many could not understand. But as we get to know the scriptures and understand how much Christ has done for us, we get to know the love He showed us and step forward into this love.

I do like the way that one of the commentators describes us as ungrateful rebels until we get to know Him and His love for us. When we are able to accept His love we put away the ungrateful side and live in love with God. Jesus did not wait until we stopped being ungrateful. He did not wait until we stopped doing things wrong. He did not wait until we had fixed our lives. He laid His life down in the beginning so He could show us the love and direct us toward a proper relationship with Him.

He first loved us when we had no love for Him and when we lay down our sins before Him, His love extends over us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. What does that mean to the normal person in the street? It means God is willing to forgive us for all the bad stuff we do in our lives. He does not put a price on it. He does not put any requirements on it. Instead He waits patiently for us to come to Him and ask forgiveness.

Points to Ponder:
What price would you put on heaven?

What cost has Christ asked from you?