Weekly Devotion no 46
23 April 2021
Bible reading – John 15:9-14[1]
9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I
have loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you
obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my
Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have
told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your
joy to be complete. 12 Here is my command. Love one
another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has
greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. 14 You
are my friends if you do what I command.
Reflection
It’s Anzac Day this Sunday. It’s a day when we remember the sacrifices of so many to provide us with the freedoms we currently enjoy. Some people went to war out of a sense of adventure or out of obligation, because it was expected of them. But many were motivated to go because they cared for their fellow countrymen. They went and, whether or not they knew that they would be away from family and friends for a long time and might not ever come back home, they endured the pain of separation, of hardship, of death for the sake of those they loved. They put the needs of others before their own needs. Through their sacrifice, they served others. We honour and respect them for this costly service. And we also recall the pain endured by so many of their relatives who suffered through grief, through having to care for an injured soldier, through the changes evident in their loved one on return from war. Many of you may have experienced the impact of war on your family and the legacy of heartache and loss it might have brought.
In today’s passage,
Jesus talks about love and not war. However, it’s also a sacrificial love. It’s
a love that took Jesus to the cross to die for us, his friends. He paid the ultimate
sacrifice. The outcome of this sacrificial love is not the post-war heartache
we might have experienced after the various world wars or conflicts. No, it is
full and complete joy! This joy is possible because Jesus’ sacrifice gives us
peace with God, not just in this life, but for all eternity. This is something
to celebrate! As Jesus has loved us, he wants us to remain in his love, as this
will enable us to love one another. This means loving others not just when we
feel like it or when they’re nice to us, but seeking to serve others and love
them even when we don’t feel they are worthy of our love or we don’t have the
energy to serve. It means following Jesus’ example. We can do this because we
are assured of Jesus’ love for us, his deep, immeasurable, vast love that paid
the price for our sin so that we could be children of God. Greater love hath no
man.
Hymn
Verse 1
O the deep deep love of Jesus
Vast unmeasured boundless free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me all around me
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward leading homeward
To my glorious rest above
Verse 2
O the deep deep love of Jesus
Spread His praise from shore to shore
How He loveth ever loveth
Changeth never nevermore
How He watches o'er His loved ones
Died to call them all His own
How for them He intercedeth
Watches over them from the
throne
Verse 3
O the deep deep love of Jesus
Love of every love the best
'Tis an ocean vast of blessing
'Tis a haven sweet of rest
O the deep deep love of Jesus
'Tis a heaven of heavens to me
And it lifts me up to glory
For it lifts me up to Thee
Prayer
O God,
our ruler and guide,
in whose
hands are the destinies of this and every nation,
we give
you thanks for the freedoms we enjoy in this land
and for
those who laid down their lives to defend them:
we pray
that we and all the people of Australia,
gratefully
remembering their courage and their sacrifice,
may have
grace to live in a spirit of justice,
of generosity,
and of peace;
through
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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