Thursday, April 20, 2023

 

Thursday, April 20, 2023


Psalms 114; 115

Exodus 16:22-17:7

Luke 24:13-27


The dead do not praise the LORD.


We like to spend a lot of time thinking about how much Jesus loves us. Some years ago, there was a serial sticker-applier who hit the suburbs, and it was as if every second road sign had a “Jesus loves you” sticker on the other side. This little devotional series is not immune from the trend, either.


It is a good thing to keep in front-of-mind, to remember just how much our Lord loves us. Indeed, prayer itself would be impossible without knowing that Christ is engrossed in the conversation, hanging on to our every word.


But it is also spiritually enriching to remind ourselves that love goes two ways. Christ loves us, yes – and we love Christ.


He is my everything. I call out to Him as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. I reach out the hands of my spirit to find Him every waking moment. I cannot get back to sleep at night without admiring my Beloved. My heart fills to breaking point if I spend more than a split second thinking about what He means to me.


Not only does our God love us, each one of us, individually as if we were the only human He ever made, but He loves the loving relationship we have. Death would have ended the relationship: the dead do not praise the LORD. Hence the cross: the great gift, given to us, the means by which we may love Christ forever.





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