Thursday 23rd November - 1 John 4

Today’s chapter is 1 John 4

Tom writes:

“We know and rely on the love God has for us.” (v14). This is the wonderful voyage of our faith. There is always a fair wind behind us. Whenever we feel like we are just lolling around, going nowhere, lost at sea - we can come back to this. We can raise again the mighty mainsails of our faith, and let the fresh, reliable wind of God blow us back on course. The wind of his love always blows. It always blows strong - strong enough to carry your ship and mine all the way to the shore. The cross has assured us of this. The death of Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins has assured us forever that the Father loves us strong. He loves us strong and He loves us now. He loves us in this moment. I think that takes time to accept. It takes even longer to understand. And the hardest thing of all is to rely on it.

Imagine a life so convinced of the love of the Father that every single interaction, every single thought process was steered by his love. No more striving. No more insecurity. No need to win a fight or grasp for a prize. Imagine if we had the ability to take love-based risks for others and to give away stuff for their sake knowing we can never lose out. Mull a moment on the magnificence of that. If your soul becomes fueled and steered by a reliance on God’s love then you could live in staggering goodness all of the time. This is what fellowship with the Father can give us. This is what the Anointing from the Holy One can rub into us. This is what it means to be set free from our sins. John sets the ethical bar of the believer so high not because he is unaware of our weaknesses but because he is so aware of God’s love. The Father loves us and will set us free from our sins when we learn to rely on the love of our God.

Question for reflection

How could you push deeper into understanding the love of God, even becoming someone who relies on it in every way?