“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13, NIV)
Wow, Christmas is late this year! OK, OK, it’s the same December 25th as every year, but with such an early Thanksgiving, it seems like a long stretch yet to the day we commemorate the nativity of our Savior.
Does this make you proud or increase your procrastination? What I mean is that some of you may be shining your knuckles, with your gift shopping already complete. Others of you are thinking, I’ve got a good couple of weeks yet before I have to think about all that. I probably fall into the latter category myself.
Whether you’re done or delaying, “gift thinking” is one of those things nearly all of us need help with. Maybe today’s words will do that for you in a fresh way.
Some passages of Scripture we skip right over. They may be too familiar. They may be too demanding. John 15:13 is both. We read Jesus’ words about the ultimate expression of love and we try to walk widely and quietly around it. Maybe Jesus won’t notice us. Maybe he won’t ask so much of us, at least not this year.
When we consider the gifts we might give to others, we may need to think much differently than our traditional lists.But first of all, we must stand reminded that Jesus spoke these words as his day of death neared. His mind was full of what he was about to do. And what he was about to was love his disciples to the end. He was going to the cross. In a matter of days, Jesus would show this greatest love to those who had followed him closely during his time of ministry on earth. But in doing so, he showed his love to you and me, too—to men and women and children for all time. He gave his life for us. And from that day forward, “Do you believe this?” became the most important question each of us has to answer.
Jesus wasn’t just prophesying, however. He was teaching. His words about how we can greatly love others are a call to us, too. We are to lay down our lives for our friends.
To the most literal extent, this is counterintuitive. If we all went to the lengths of actual death for others, who would evangelize and who would minister? But dying in our living may be an even greater demand. I know of many older couples who have started their parenting all over again, taking their grandchildren into their care when their children have abdicated their parental duties. I know of those who take repeated, all-hours phone calls from friends whose needs never dissipate. I know of those whose care for their ailing parents or spouse has caused them to redraw their daily schedules with virtually no time left for themselves—no golf, no travel, no nice dinners out.
When we look to the love and death of Jesus, we can only exclaim, “Oh, what a gift!” And when we consider the gifts we might give to others, we may need to think much differently than our traditional lists. We may need to move away from the shopping malls and dotcom clearinghouses and toward the nursing homes, street corners, widows’ pews, rescue missions, and neighbors we’ve never really met, so we can love them with great, great love.
—
Jeff Hopper
December 3, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.