Reading your Bible for today December 18

December 18: John 15:9-13

KJV Key Verse: John 15:11
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full .

Devotion:
One of the best ways of showing your love towards someone is to do things for them. If we are going to show our love for other people, then we should be willing to do things for them, even when they do not need it. But to show them true love, you must not do things that are untoward or unkind, even when they are misguided into thinking that they need them. The great thing about doing what God would want us to do is we are guaranteed that what He needs and wants of us is 100% correct and true. If we are willing to do whatsoever He asks of us, then we are guaranteed we will be doing the right thing. There is no error in Christ!

So to show God that we do love Him, we must be willing to do His work whenever He asks. Not whenever we think we can fit it in, but whenever it is required! Before we knew Him, before we even knew of Him, He was willing to lay down His own life for us. He was willing to do that just in the hope we will turn our lives round and follow Him. His love for us is so awesome we will never be able to understand it while here on earth.

It is one thing for a soldier to rush in on adrenaline to give us his life for us (even though we do not deserve that either), but it is another thing for Christ to willingly go forward to face the horror that He did just for us. We certainly did not deserve that sort of love.

As we get closer to Christmas, we are still reminded we should be showing compassion and love one towards another, but we get reminded less and less each year about the One who started Christmas! The one who came to earth as a man so He can show us His great love. All He asks us in return is to show a bit of that love back by following His commandments. For as long as we follow His commandments, we will be more willing to do His work and to show others how great a joy we find in Him.

Points to Ponder:
How do you show love toward others?

How will you show God your love today?