DO YOU LOVE JESUS AS MUCH AS HE LOVES YOU?
BIBLE PASSAGE:
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered,
“before Abraham was born, I am!”
(John 8:58)
MEDITATION:
When I was a child, I thought that Jesus entered the world at Bethlehem.
I could imagine how excited His parents were, and how excited Jesus was
when they brought Him gifts from another country. I would try to visualize
how the bright light looked to the shepherds in the field.
The thought of an angel speaking to the shepherds and then a host of
them singing was exciting to me. At the same time, it was also hard for
me to understand why the shepherds were afraid, but then I was just a
kid.
Whenever I imagined being a kid with animals all around I thought it
would be an environment that I would really enjoy (due to my love of
animals). Not once did I think about the smell, or the gnats and flies.
I could imagine playing in the barn and feeding the animals. Those
are a few of the thoughts I had about Jesus’ entrance into the world.
But as I grew older and developed a better understanding of the
scriptures, I realized that Bethlehem was not where Jesus began.
Even though getting a grasp of the Trinity was not easy, I realized
it consisted of God, the Spirit, and of course, Jesus.
The Bible says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
If the Word was God, and Jesus is part of the Trinity,
then it means the Word was Him as well.
When I considered the words, “In the beginning”, I realized that
Jesus was here from the very beginning. He was here before the
moon and stars were put into place by His Father. He was here
when God created the planet Earth. He has always existed and
is here from everlasting to everlasting.
Why is that important? For one thing, it means that He has existed
longer than Satan. We know that Satan has existed longer than any
of us so he is much better at tempting us, than we are at resisting his
temptations.
However, Jesus is better at equipping us for resisting temptations
and helping us in our efforts to resist Satan’s influence on our
lives. Doesn’t it give you an amazing amount of confidence to know
that as a believer, you have a powerful and more than adequate
Advocate to help you win the battles against Satan?
ACTION:
What are your feelings about Jesus existing from the beginning of time?
Does it help you better understand why it was an amazing act of obedience
for Him to leave the splendor of Heaven and enter an unrighteous world?
Isn’t it astounding that even though He knew the cross awaited Him, He
was still obedient to the Father? Think about that for a moment:
Jesus left a perfect world to enter an
imperfect one so He could die for you and me!
It can be difficult to wrap our minds around the magnitude of that
kind of love for others. Jesus sacrificed His desires in favor of our
needs. It is sad to think about how many of us fail to sacrifice our
desires in favor of His will for us.
We should be excited and look forward to spending more time
worshipping and studying about Jesus, and especially when we
know it will be beneficial for us and bring pleasure to the Lord.
We should be forever grateful that His love for us is greater than
our love for Him. Our gratitude should motivate us to spend more
quality time with the One who made it possible for us to have our
sins forgiven and to spend eternity in heaven.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word that helps me
understand Your existence and how You had a plan for all
mankind before the first person was born. Thank You Jesus
for loving me so much that You would leave the comfort of
Heaven and die for me. Forgive me for the times I have put
other things ahead of reading God’s Word and spending time
in prayer. Soften my heart so that my desire to fellowship with
You will increase. In humble adoration I praise You, my Savior
and Lord.”
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