“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:14-19 NASB95).”
The title of this writing was inspired by a devotion written by Charles Spurgeon. In this devotion, Spurgeon makes the comment, Christians, meditate often on heaven. He makes this comment as he contemplates the temporal nature of this life and the eternal promises of the life to come. The exhortation to the reader being that of clinging to hope and expectation for the fullness of the Lord’s promises.
I find it fitting to be reminded of our eternal home. So often in this life we are bogged down with the trials of the everyday. We have tasks to accomplish and work to be done. The more we work to get the list of things done in the day seems to give way only to additions to the list of tasks yet to be finished. The repetition of the day can be draining.
The verses above taken from the book of 1 John serve as a reminder of where our faith should be. John encourages us to know that God is love. And in this love, Jesus came to us in order to Redeem us. John refers to us as beloved, and this we are. We are beloved children of an Almighty Father. As God loved us, so too should we love one another.
Abide in love and we abide in God. Let your mind dwell on His love for you. Abide in Him and by this, love is perfected. His love causes us to be lifted up in faith bringing confidence in His promises. Cling to the Salvation that He offers, because in love there is no fear. Our faith restores us into His hands of protection. Therefore Christians, meditate often on the things of heaven.
Corby Shuey 