10
Apr '19
In the Moment
10
Apr '19
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. . . No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself . . . (John 10:17-18)
The ambulance door was about to close—with me on the inside. Outside, my son was on the phone to my wife. From my concussed fog, I called his name. As he recalls the moment, I slowly said, “Tell your mom I love her very much.”
Apparently I thought this might be goodbye, and I wanted those to be my parting words. In the moment, that’s what mattered most to me.
As Jesus endured His darkest moment, He didn’t merely tell us He loved us; He showed it in specific ways. He showed it to the mocking soldiers who had just nailed Him to a cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He gave hope to a criminal crucified with Him: “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Nearing the end, He looked at His mother. “Behold thy son,” He said to her, and to His close friend John He said, “Behold thy mother” (John 19:26–27). Then, as His life slipped from Him, Jesus’s last act of love was to trust His Father: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Jesus purposefully chose the cross in order to show His obedience to His Father—and the depth of His love for us. To the very end, He showed us His relentless love.
When I read this devotion it depicted a very real image of what Christ went through for you and I, why, because He loves us, before we were even born, He chose to die for me, for you. What an example to follow knowing that every word of Jesus was spoken in love. I am reminded of James 1:29, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. May we ponder these questions today, What matters most to you? How do love and obedience fit together?
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalms 51:1-2