August 25: Jeremiah 37-39; Psalm 79; 2John

Scripture: 2John 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Observation: John is referred to as “John the Beloved” because he was so close to Jesus and in the Gospel which bears his name, he refers to himself, not by name, but as the one “whom Jesus loved.”

Jesus had expressed the ten commandments by summarizing them into two: the first about loving God and the second about loving people. Jesus had even given them His own commandment that they were to love each other as He had loved them.

Now, as he is writing a short letter to the church, we can see that John got the message: Love is the reason Jesus came and love is to be the trademark of His people.

Application: Love must be my priority. My love for God becomes visible as I obey His commands. My love for others becomes visible in my words and actions. Unlike the wife in the waiting room last week whose words to her elderly husband were full of exasperation and impatience, may my words be full of God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, you have shined your love into my heart; now help me to shine it out to others. Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!