I Corinthians 13 :12-13 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Hello there! It’s been a privilege to journey with you in 2024, and I”m looking forward to new discoveries we make about our faith journeys in 2025. I hope this devotional has given you a chance to reflect, breathe a bit, know that you are loved by God in Jesus Christ, and have a chance to see God’s presence in your life and in the world.
Going into a new year, we’ve got a lot on our minds and hearts, so this week’s devotion is quick and simple. We probably already have enough on our plates, so let’s get to what’s important.
We are loved by God and saved by grace in Jesus Christ. We can live to love Jesus and our neighbour (including all of creation) as ourselves. We are known more profoundly than we can understand, and loved more deeply than we know. No matter what.
When it comes right down to it, that kind of love is what is going to change the world for the better, whether we live out that love locally, nationally, on internationally. As the apostle Paul says in I Corinthians, sometimes we don’t see the big picture all at once. But if we keep growing and seeking to grow, we’ll get there.
When Jesus came to live with us, he wasn’t bringing the 10 Commandments–they were already in circulation. He wasn’t bringing a new set of rules. He was bringing Godself.
What that mean for the world, and for us, is that God’s presence is with us in a newborn baby’s cry, a twelve year old’s persistent and somewhat impertinent questions, a man who sees and reaches out to the people on the edges of the crowd who are too scared to push their way to the One who they need to see the most. It’s God incarnate knowing friendship, kid’s laughter, they way the earth smells after the rain or how to scale a fish. It’s God experiencing all of human limitations and still knowing that God’s love had to be taught and lived in a way that could be understood. For God, that meant being so present in our suffering that Jesus took it on Godself on the cross, and in grace and love died and rose again for us.
Yup, we are loved by Jesus. Infinitely.
We’ll talk more about all that through next year, and see how we can live out that love. But for right now, know that you are so welcome on this journey with us, and God loves you for you. It’s a love that is deeper and stronger than anything we will ever know, or maybe even understand.
Blessings and peace as you enter this New Year.
Peace in Christ,
Rev Susan
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