What great love
Day 689, Wednesday, July 1
1 John 2:28 – 3:10
The Bible uses different terms to refer to the followers of Jesus. Most literally it calls them disciples or apostles. It also speaks of them being servants or even sheep. In John, Jesus calls them friends. The most personal term of all, though, is “children.”
In 3:1 we read, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
Think of some of the positive ways that Jesus himself referred to children. He said peacemakers will be called children of God. He said those who love their enemies will be children of the Most High. He invited us to become as children to approach him.
Also remember the parable of the prodigal son and the father’s eagerness to accept him back into the family in spite of his rebellion. And especially remember the parable of the tenants, when the landowner sent his son to represent him when his servants had failed. The father trusted his son to faithfully represent his interests. It didn’t end well for the son, but he proved that his father’s faith in him was not misplaced, just as Jesus himself proved faithful even unto death.
As God accepts us and calls us his children, he also trusts us to represent his interests. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
The main lesson I would want you to take away from this reading is that the Christian life begins with God’s love, which leads to our joy, which leads to our passionate desire to be like him, just as Jesus was like him. Love and joy are the motivators, not guilt and obligation.

Wednesday meditation

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Prayer focus
Thank you, Lord, for calling us your children. We love you and we want to be like you.

-Rev. Mark Fleming