Devotions for Disciples

            In case you have never been outside your home, talked with others with opposing views, or got on Facebook or other social media outlets, our world knows more about hate than about love. There are many kinds of love in this world, but most of them seem to be missing, if not from our vocabulary, definitely from our actions.

The front porch kind of love is case in point. Today, our homes are in packed neighborhoods of houses, apartments, and condos. We are social only if we know the people on either side of us. Maybe this was never a spoken kind of love, but in days gone by, neighbors shared moments of their lives. Garden and fishing tales were shared. They grieved the loss of crops and burned barns, and they shared the concerns of their sons going to war. Love won through shared mutual respect for each other’s lives. They understood the heart of John 5:23: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Maybe they were never called to die on the front porch, but they demonstrated this love when the need arose. 

Love is often an overused word in our world today, but seldom is it demonstrated. Do our children even know the  Golden Rule today? It is evident that many grown-ups need a reminder from Matthew 7:12: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Scripture is full of the evidence of God’s love winning. Love won the moment Adam and Eve sinned. Love won when God’s children were led across the open waters of the sea. Love won when prophets of old proclaimed the love and authority of God. Love won in every promise the Father kept.  Love won on the day the Holy Spirit breathed over Mary, and the Son began the journey to the cross. Love won when Christ defeated every temptation in the wilderness. Love won on the day the Father looked down from Heaven and declared, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Love won in the hearts of disciples when they walked away from all they knew and followed the Messiah. Love won when the precious blood of God’s Son flowed freely for all who came in repentance. Love won the moment the veil was torn, removing the separation of the individual from the Throne of God. Love won the day Christ exited the grave alive and whole. Love won the day the Son returned to the Father. 

True and perfect love still wins, not because of court rulings, but because God still strives with mankind, salvation is still available, and hope that brings joy is still alive. One day, love will win and complete all the Father intended, and on that one day, the Son will step out, and true and perfect love will be heard in the midnight cry. 

Before life’s final cry, would you try to find a front porch, a common area in the place you call home, take a walk with a neighbor, and build a mutual respect that will allow hearts to find a mutual love for one another. Simple acts can change the world you live in. It changed forever when one man named Jesus lived out John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”