As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:9-11(ESV)
Dear Lord Jesus, how can it be? How is it possible that you love us to the degree, and with the delight, the Father loves you? We believe, help our unbelief. To abide in your love is a command we’ll gladly keep—just as a fish swims the depths of the Pacific Ocean and an eagle soars the heights of the Alaska skyline. It’s not a burden, but a blessing.
Indeed, because you perfectly fulfilled the law for us, God’s commands are no longer a burden to us (1 John 5:3). By them we understand how to love as you love us; how to live at the pace of grace, instead of racing just to get more; and how to steward our freedom, instead of squandering our moments. Hallelujah! We’re not under the weight and condemnation of the law; we’re in you and under the waterfall of grace (Rom. 6:14). Hallelujah! We’ve been set free from performance-based living, for a life of whole-heart loving. Take us farther up and farther into the ways and means of grace, Jesus.
May your Word and, and everything it teaches us, increasingly become more precious to us than fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb (Ps. 19:10); for it warns us of the insanity of sin, and woos us unto a life of true freedom and joy (Ps. 19:7-13). May the pleasure we find in obeying you be only second to the pleasure we have in being loved by you.
And now, as we lean into the demands, surprises, and pains of this day, knowing you are praying for the fullness of our joy, we will seek to live for the praise of your glorious grace (Eph. 1:6). So very Amen we pray, in your magnificent and merciful name.