Having loved his own who were in the world, he [Jesus] now showed them the full extent of his love. John 13:1 (NIV ‘84)
Dear Lord Jesus, I often return to the scene from which this verse is taken, for it’s homeroom for my heart—the best place to place to settle and center my soul. It’s the night of your betrayal—the hour you’d be abandoned, not just by Peter, but also by all the disciples. You knew the full extent of their weakness, so you showed them the full extent of your love. Washing their feet was a prelude to washing their hearts. Water sufficed for the first, your lifeblood was required for the second.
And this is precisely how you love each of us, no exceptions. Absolutely nothing can separate us from your affection, or impact the way you love us. You don’t love us more when we “get it right”, and you don’t love us less when we “do it wrong.” That doesn’t mean you’re indifferent; it means you’re our Savior, ever committed to showing us the full extent of your love—its width, length, height, and depth how wide, long (Eph. 3:18-19).
Only your love, Jesus, can free and change us. Only your love is better than life. Only your love is enough. In my most gospel-sane moments, I know this to be true—my truest truth. Nobody or nothing has to change for us to be at peace and joyful. Forgive me for plugging my “happy-cord” into what people think, or what I have, or anything besides you.
Jesus, you are our loving Master, not our private masseur. Forgive me when I forget the first and start demanding the second. By the gospel and the truth of your Word, keep renewing my thinking every hour of every day. You are already my perfect righteousness; I long for the Day when I will be made perfect in love (1 John 3:1-3). So very Amen I pray, in your merciful and mighty name.