One of the greatest privileges we have is to read the Bible. The Bible is like God's love letter to us. It shares with us God's great redemption plan for man and how God desires to have fellowship with every person. God is love, and God loves people. His word, the Bible, is worthy of not only of our reading and studying, but also for us to memorize. Today's verse is a wonderful scripture to put to memory, and the idea that John the apostle conveys is worthy of our appreciation and perspective for all the days of our lives. John wrote in First John chapter four and verse nineteen:
We love him, because he first loved us.
We must remember this, God loved us first. God is the initiator, and we are the responders. God began the process, and we react to His offer. God's love stands ready for anyone who will turn from their sinful ways and ask Him to forgive them. He is willing to begin a relationship with them. He started it, and He is more than willing to finish it. He continually waits for people to believe that He sent His Son Jesus to die as His provision for their sins, and when we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. There is no greater love than this. God indeed loves us, and He loves us first.
As a natural response to God loving us first, we love Him. When we discover, and as we discover, who God really is, we will love Him. Most people who do not love God, do not know Him. If they did, they could not help but love Him. Sometimes people have been disappointed with God, or maybe things didn't work out for them the way they had planned, and now they do not love God and some do not even believe there is a God. It's too bad, really, because if they were to search diligently the scriptures within the Bible, they would find the most loving being they have ever known.
Jesus said it this way as recorded in the book of the gospel of John in chapter fifteen and verse thirteen:
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus gave His life for us. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus loved us even when we seemed unlovable, and now His desire is that we have fellowship with Him and love Him for all He did.
Next time we will look at another question about love that John the apostle presents to us, so read ahead and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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