God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.
John 3:16
This is one of the most famous, often quoted and promising scriptures in the New Testament. Here we read of God's all-encompassing love and grace for His beloved creation.
When we stop and truly think of the sacrifice God and Jesus made for each one of us, the thought becomes overwhelming.
Have you ever loved someone so much you were willing to sacrifice everything - even your very life - for that person? That is what Jesus did. That is what God did.
And what are our responses to this generous expression of love?
#1 Some of us accept the gift with open armed humility; so amazingly thankful for the gift we return the love to Jesus feeling the love grow more intensely and more fully each day we are in his presence. Because of this offer of grace we have developed a deepening relationship with the Father and the Son.
#2 Some of us respond to the gift by trying to earn it. We work and serve out of a sense of duty or guilt over the sacrifice which was made for us. We feel completely unworthy and unlovable. We assume that if we don't keep working we will never actually receive the gift.
# 3But, some of us turn our back on the gift. We deny its existence or discount its unmeasurable value. We go about our daily lives with little thought or care towards the One Who gave us everything out of an unending love. We simply ignore the gift.
We are all human beings with the amazing gift of free will. And in that free will we have options about how we will accept or deny Jesus's offer of grace.
Response number three is often how the world perceives God's grace. Many of the people of this world will celebrate Christmas and all of its trappings but deny the fullness of the story and the beautiful sacrifice in love of Easter. These are people who have heard the message of God's overwhelming love and have chosen to deny it. In all reality, many of these persons are good people who have simply chosen to believe only what they can see with their eyes instead of choosing to see with their hearts.
Response number two is one which many Christians unknowingly fall into. Out of sense of being unworthy, we push and we pull and we yank all of our different service obligations around until we become so weighted down in service we forget what motivated the service in the beginning. We cannot believe that God, the Mighty Wonderful Creator of the Universe would want to give us anything without us first jumping through at least one hoop. We who fall into this response rely on ourselves, rather than God to try and earn our salvation.
And response number one is given by Christians who recognize the love that God offers is freely given. We understand - regardless of how unbelievable the gift might be - that God gives us salvation not because we deserve it, but because He wants to be with us. We recognize that God's love is a gift given to us because of His desire for a relationship with each of us. We cannot explain it but we can live it. We can love as God teaches us to love - without limits.
Your response to God's offer of grace and love shown in John 3:16 is yours alone. Maybe it looks like one of the three responses above or maybe it is entirely different. God will not force you to accept His love - but He does offer it - with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
So...what will you say to Him?
Scripture
Quote of the Day
“If thou desire the love of God and man, be humble, for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, is beloved of none but itself. Humility enforces where neither virtue, nor strength, nor reason can prevail.”
Francis Quarles, English Poet during the 16th Century
Question of the Day
What will your response to God's love be?
No comments:
Post a Comment